SIPRI is proud to announce a package of new materials reflecting on the upcoming NATO anniversary and the recent accession of two new members—Finland and Sweden—to the transatlantic alliance.
Video interviews with Jan Eliasson and Jan Egeland
In the latest additions to SIPRI’s Conversation video series, two of the Nordic region’s most eminent diplomats discuss the implications of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership—for NATO and for the new members’ prominent roles in international affairs.
Ambassador Jan Eliasson, a former Swedish Foreign Minister and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, and the Chair of SIPRI’s Governing Board from 2017 to 2022, talks about Sweden’s contributions to international peace and security, the difficult decision to join NATO, and his hopes for Sweden’s future role in NATO and Nordic cooperation.
Jan Egeland, former State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, offers his thoughts on how Sweden and Finland should approach NATO membership, drawing on Norway’s experiences as a founder member of the alliance, as well as on the unfulfilled potential of Nordic cooperation.
A new need for some old ideas
Also released for the NATO anniversary is a new essay by SIPRI Director Dan Smith and Dr Barbara Kunz, head of SIPRI’s European Security Programme, highlighting lessons from cold war diplomacy that are urgently needed today: ‘NATO: A new need for some old ideas’.
The authors argue that although much has changed since the cold war ended, the fundamental concepts of the past are far from obsolete, especially as NATO’s key task has once again become deterring Russia and defending European territory.
NATO military spending
Finally, a topical backgrounder on NATO military spending will be forthcoming soon after the launch of SIPRI’s new data on World Military Expenditure in April.