SIPRI Update August 2021: Mali, armament in Mozambique, social media a tool for peace or conflict and more

View the online version

STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL
PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

SIPRI Update: August 2021

The independent resource on global peace and security

NEWS COMMENTARY EVENTS PUBLICATIONS

NEWS

New SIPRI film: SIPRI and Point Sud’s work in central Mali—The methodology

This month, SIPRI and Point Sud released a new Reflection Film that outlines and describes the partnership’s data collection in central Mali. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand the perceptions of the local population, the project provides the opportunity to gain unique insight into the situation on the ground in Mali.

SIPRI briefs United Nations Security Council on the impact of emerging technologies on international peace and security

On 17 May, SIPRI participated in a virtual United Nations Security Council Arria-formula meeting entitled ‘The Impact of Emerging Technologies on International Peace and Security’. The meeting focused on expanding the understanding of emerging technologies and called on the international community to bolster discussions on their development and application.

Read more | Watch the session recording

Environment of Peace panellist briefs United Nations group on climate and security

On 21 June, Chibeze Ezekiel, a panellist for SIPRI’s Environment of Peace (EP) initiative, briefed a virtual meeting of the Group of Friends on Climate and Security at the UN in New York. Ezekiel told the group about the ongoing work of the EP initiative. He stressed that climate change and environmental degradation are changing not only the security landscape but also what it takes to build peace.

Peace Points: Afghanistan—A long-term perspective

In this Peace Points video, SIPRI Director, Dan Smith, reflects on the current developments in Afghanistan and takes a retrospective look at state-building efforts over the past decades, stressing the importance of taking Afghanistan’s recent history into account for future engagement in the country.

Watch the Peace Points video

COMMENTARY

Arms transfers, military spending and insurgencies: What we do (and do not) know about Mozambique

Earlier this year, the United States added a Mozambican group to its list of designated foreign terrorist organizations. The USA and others are already preparing to offer Mozambique help with counter-insurgency. If recent experience in the Sahel region is anything to go by, this will include military support, including arms transfers. But is boosting Mozambique’s armed forces the best approach?

Read the SIPRI WritePeace Blog

Social media: A tool for peace or conflict?

The 2021 Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development gave the opportunity to explore how social media can be harnessed for peacebuilding purposes and to assess policy responses to harmful online disinformation campaigns. This Topical Backgrounder is inspired by these discussions. It makes four recommendations—one each for peacebuilding practitioners, policymakers, social media companies and citizens—to protect peace, democratic institutions and people’s welfare.

Read the SIPRI Topical Backgrounder

Surveillance as slow violence: Experiences from young environmental activists

Threats, smear campaigns and stigmatization—often referred to as ‘slow violence’—have long been used to silence environmental activists. As activism increasingly takes place online, tactics of slow violence have adapted, making use of social media and other digital tools to target, often young, activists. One of those methods, digital surveillance, deserves greater attention.

Read the SIPRI WritePeace Blog

UPCOMING EVENTS

8–11 November 2021

Stockholm Security Conference: Battlefields of the Future

SIPRI is pleased to announce that the sixth annual Stockholm Security Conference will convene in a virtual format on 8–11 November. The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Battlefields of the Future: Trends of Conflict and Warfare in the 21st Century’. Save the date (8–11 November) and join leading experts, practitioners and policymakers as they exchange views for a better understanding of the challenges to international security and the role of governments, multilateral organizations, humanitarian actors, researchers and civil society in dealing with the challenges of the battlefields of the future.

3 September 2021

Taking stock of the Arms Trade Treaty: The first six years and the way forward

On 3 September 2021 SIPRI will host a virtual side event in the framework of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Seventh Conference of States Parties and in connection to the launch of a series of SIPRI papers taking stock of the ATT. The event aims to stimulate a discussion among the ATT community on the achievements of the ATT during its first six years, the lessons learned, the challenges to ATT implementation and possible ways forward.

Current vacancies

Human Resources Officer (Closing date: 15 September).
Virtual Internship.

PUBLICATIONS

Taking Stock of the Arms Trade Treaty

The entry into force of the ATT in 2014 was an important milestone in the control of international arms transfers. For the first time the international community was able to agree on a global, legally binding instrument containing minimum standards for the control of international transfers of conventional arms—including exports, imports, transit, trans-shipment and brokering. Six years have passed since the entry into force of the treaty, which opens the possibility for states parties to consider possible amendments.

SIPRI has published a series of five papers as part of a wider project aimed at taking stock of specific aspects of the ATT—its scope, the application of the risk-assessment criteria, its processes and forums, universalization efforts, and international assistance to support ATT implementation.

Read the SIPRI report on the scope of the ATT | Read the SIPRI report on the risk-assessment criteria of the ATT | Read the SIPRI report on the processes and forums of the ATT | Read the SIPRI report on universalization of the ATT | Read the SIPRI report on international assistance to support ATT implementation

Food Systems in Conflict and Peacebuilding Settings: Pathways and Interconnections

This SIPRI report is part of a series intended to emphasize the urgency of addressing the relationship between conflict and food insecurity. Violent conflict remained the main driver of global hunger in 2020. Conflict has a direct negative impact on food systems and resultant levels of food security. Moreover, heightened food insecurity may create grievances that can escalate into instability and violent conflict. The increases in both acute food insecurity and violent conflict demand urgent and decisive action. This paper aims to inform policymakers of the intricate relationships between food security and violent conflict and concludes with four recommendations to guide more effective preventative and mitigative action.

Read the SIPRI report

A Comparison of National Reviews of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

This paper maps and analyses the national reviews of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) conducted by Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. By conducting a comparative analysis of the national reviews, the paper seeks a better understanding of how the TPNW is seen and interpreted by various European states. It aims to help clarify what the next step towards a future common European position should be.

Read the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Paper

SIPRI Yearbook 2021

SIPRI Yearbook 2021 presents a combination of original data in areas such as world military expenditure, international arms transfers, arms production, nuclear forces, armed conflicts and multilateral peace operations with state-of-the-art analysis of important aspects of arms control, peace and international security. It covers developments during 2020, including:

the state of nuclear arms control and the entry into force of the 2017 TPNW;
efforts to regulate lethal autonomous weapon systems, and state behaviour in cyberspace and space;
regional and country-specific overviews of armed conflicts; and
the impact of the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic and the UN appeal for a global ceasefire to address it.

Browse the contents page | Download the summary (PDF) |
Order SIPRI Yearbook 2021 | Download the sample chapter on World nuclear forces (PDF)