Russian influence operations: a problem or not? 

Martin Kragh, Swedish Institute for International Affairs

The worsening tensions between Russia and the West in the 2010s were followed by an increase in documented cases of Russian influence operations towards several countries. The most well-known case, the Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, resulted in several years of investigations and a rise in distrust for the political system among members of the electorate. However, there are many cases where the outcome has not been as dramatic.

In this seminar, Martin Kragh with the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and Uppsala University will discuss the history and strategy of Russian influence activities - with a particular focus on the Nordic countries. What may be said of their potential impact? Why is Russia engaging in these activites? And have the strategies towards the Nordic countries been different in comparison to the broader trends?

Martin Kragh is Deputy Centre Director of the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) and Senior Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Kragh's research interests include Russia's economy and history, but also the political development in Russia and the former USSR.

For more info, please visit Martin Kragh, Senior Research Fellow | Utrikespolitiska institutet (ui.se) or the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS).

For online attendance, please use this link.

The lecture is organized within the framework of the research project Memory Politics of the North 1993–2023 | UiT and the research group The Presence of the Past: Peoples, Politics and the Uses of History in the High North (PrePast) | UiT.

Coffee/tea and fruits will be served. All welcome!