Institute for Security and Development Policy
| 320px | |
| Founded | 2007 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Svante Cornell, Niklas Swanström |
| Type | Think tank |
| Focus | Security issues in Eurasia |
| Location | |
| Origins | Uppsala University |
| Website | isdp.eu |
The Institute for Security and Development Policy is a Stockholm-based independent and non-profit research and policy institute. The institute examines international affairs through the lens of conflict, security, and regional development, with a primary geographic focus on Asia, the Caucasus and Europe's neighbourhood. The institute regularly publishes papers, books, policy briefs, monographs and articles on security and politics in Central Asia, South Asia, China, Russia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. The institute host forums where researchers, scholars and other distinguished experts are invited to give a presentation or lecture.
The ISDP has two constituent parts, the Silk Road Studies Program and the Asia Program, and forms a joint center with the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. ISDP has also launched the Transnational Threat Initiative, covering thematic programs such as Organized Crime, Preventing Drug Usage by Utilizing Environmental Arguments, Terrorism and Cyber Security. The institute was given a five-star rating by Europe's World.[1]
Contents
Origins
The Institute for Security and Development Policy was founded in 2007. Its origins lie in the Silk Road Studies Program, founded at Uppsala University in 2002 by Svante Cornell and Niklas Swanström, and which focused on the geographical area covering Eurasia from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean. After five years at Uppsala University, the program was reconstituted as an independent think tank in Stockholm in 2007, changing its name to the Institute for Security and Development Policy.
With the creation of the ISDP, the Silk Road Studies Program’s focus was narrowed to the area stretching from Turkey and the Black Sea to Central Asia, including the Caucasus. The Asia Program was created for the institute’s activities focusing on Northeast, Southeast and South Asia. Two specific country initiatives under the respective programs are the Turkey Initiative (website) and the China Initiative. ISDP researchers are also involved in activities on adjacent regions, including Iran, Russia, the Baltic region, and the countries of the Eastern Partnership.
Silk Road Studies Program
The Silk Road Studies Program was co-founded by Svante E. Cornell and Niklas Swanström in 2002.[2] In 2005, the program formed a joint transatlantic research and policy center with the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. This led to the merger of the publications and websites of the two centers. Currently, the joint center’s publications include:
- Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, published biweekly since 1999 (website)
- The China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly (website)
- The Silk Road Papers, an occasional papers series (website)
- Turkey Analyst, biweekly publication launched in 2008 (website)
Svante Cornell is the research director of the joint center, and also co-director of the ISDP. His specialization is in security issues, regional politics, and state-building in the Caucasus, Turkey, Central and Southwest Asia.[3]
Asia Program
The Asia Program was launched in 2007 and focuses on political developments throughout Asia. Through applied research, publications, teaching, research cooperation, public lectures and seminars, it provides information, research and analysis on how Asia and its sub-regional blocs interrelate in terms of security. It publishes the Asia Paper series.[4]
The program is led by Niklas Swanström, who also serves as a director of the ISDP and is one of its co-founders. He is a research fellow at the Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and the editor of the China Eurasia Forum Quarterly, a quarterly publication on China and Eurasia. His main areas of expertise are conflict prevention, conflict management and regional cooperation, Chinese foreign policy and security in Northeast Asia, as well as narcotics trafficking and its effect on regional and national security. His commentaries have appeared in Svenska Dagbladet, Uppsala Nya Tidning, the Baltimore Sun, Asia Times and Asia Online.
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