In the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine in the spring of 2022 and its humanitarian, economic, and political consequences, the countries in the Nordic region have put renewed focus on security issues within an insecure Europe. In this panel moderated by Eric Einhorn (Professor Emeritus of Political Science & Adjunct Professor of Scandinavian Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst), panelists will discuss how Nordic security has shifted over the past year and issues going forward, as well as the changes in Finland and Sweden’s neutrality stance by joining the NATO alliance.

Panelists include Katja Creutz (Program Director of the Global Security Research Program, Finnish Institute of International Affairs), August Danielson (Associate Fellow, the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) and PhD Candidate, Uppsala University); and Hans Mouritzen (Senior Researcher of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy, Danish Institute for International Studies). This event will take place as a Zoom webinar followed by a Q&A; the conversation will be recorded and available later to stream on our Virtual Programming page and on our YouTube channel.

About the Panelists & Moderator

Katja Creutz is Program Director of the Global Security research program at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Her main field of expertise is international law and especially issues of responsibility, human rights and global governance. She has also published extensively on Nordic relations in the field of foreign and security policy. Dr. Creutz holds a Doctor of Laws degree and a Master of Laws program degree from the University of Helsinki and a Master of Political Science from Åbo Akademi University. She has previously worked as Research Fellow at the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights of the University of Helsinki. She is the author of the monograph State Responsibility in the International Legal Order: A Critical Appraisal (CUP, 2020).

August Danielson is an associate fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) and a PhD Candidate at Uppsala University. His research focuses on diplomatic practices, EU foreign and security policy as well as visual diplomacy. He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Uppsala University and has previously worked at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. He is a co-author of The Everyday Making of EU Foreign and Security Policy (2022) and his work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Common Market Studies, Review of International Studies and Journal of International Relations and Development.

Eric S. Einhorn has been a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 1971 until his retirement in 2009, including 6 ½ years as department chair. After his undergraduate studies in international relations at the University of Pennsylvania he earned a PhD in political science at Harvard University.  His teaching and research bridge the comparative and foreign policy fields with a focus on western Europe and the United States and especially the Nordic region.  His most recent work has been in comparative political economy. Professor Einhorn has traveled and studied extensively throughout western Europe and especially the Nordic regions. Currently he is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Adjunct Professor of Scandinavian Studies at UMass Amherst and continues his research and area studies activities.

Hans Mouritzen is a Senior Researcher of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy at the Danish Institute for International Studies. He has developed theory on the autonomy of international organizations; small states’ foreign policy in a spatial context (‘constellation theory’); how external danger affects domestic cohesion; and how historical memory impacts foreign policy decisions (‘presence of the past’ theory). He is co-editor of Danish Foreign Policy Review and participates in FSPS projects.