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1. The many contending futures of UN peacekeeping

Author:
Corine van Emmerik and Peter Albrecht
Publication Date:
03-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This DIIS Working Paper examines how UN peacekeeping operations are being reimagined in an era of global uncertainty. Through analysis of key UN documents and interviews with officials and diplomats, the research reveals multiple competing visions for peacekeeping's future — from a return to core principles to modular approaches and even a dramatic downscaling of peacekeeping as we have known it since the turn of the millennium. As peacekeeping operations face diminished legitimacy, host state resistance, and a deadlocked Security Council, the study argues that peacekeeping's chronic challenges are inherently unsolvable and must be continuously navigated. The paper comes at a critical moment following the closure of the Mali mission, considerable challenges in the DRC, and ahead of the 2025 Peacekeeping Ministerial, with implications for the future of global conflict management in an increasingly multipolar world.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, United Nations, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. China's Green Belt and Road

Author:
Yang Jiang
Publication Date:
03-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
In the past 15 years, green industries have developed rapidly in China, and China has assumed a leading position in several global supply chains of renewable energy. Because the domestic solar, wind and biomass markets have become quite saturated, Chinese companies have intensified their search for overseas markets, and the Chinese government is strengthening its support for that pursuit under the Green Belt and Road Initiative. For the governments and businesses in the green industries in the West, the Green Belt and Road Initiative could result in more competition over market shares and geopolitical influence, but it also encompasses opportunities for cooperation. For developing countries, more competition and diversification between foreign partners can be an advantage, allowing them to negotiate with the development partners.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Environment, Natural Resources, Business, and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
Political Geography:
China and Asia

3. Decolonisation in the second space age

Author:
Trine Rosengren Pejstrup and Ian Klinke
Publication Date:
02-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The corporate space race is rendering space increasingly 'congested, contested, and competitive'.1 Governments too are upgrading their space capabilities. In Denmark, the new Danish Space Strategy promises a doubling of investment to ensure a Danish space industry that is 'ready for battle'. However, concerns over the environmental and sociopolitical consequences of test launches, extensive satellite programmes and ambitions to establish bases on celestial bodies have sparked growing criticism of a 'colonisation of outer space'. This policy brief reveals a growing political rift over the question of space colonisation.
Topic:
Space, Decolonization, Investment, and Commercialization
Political Geography:
Europe, Denmark, and Space

4. Russian military thinking about the Baltic Sea and the Arctic

Author:
Flemming Splidsboel Hansen
Publication Date:
02-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Russia is likely to continue its military build-up in both the Baltic Sea and the Arctic in the long-term perspective. Following the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, Russian military thinkers and planners are increasingly seeing the two theatres as contiguous areas.
Topic:
Security, NATO, Military, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Eurasia, Finland, Sweden, Arctic, and Baltic Sea

5. Baltic States’ synchronization with the continental grid

Author:
Veronika Slakaityte and Izabela Surwillo
Publication Date:
02-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The disconnection of the Baltic States from the Russian electricity system and their synchronisation with the Continental European Network is a key technological and geopolitical milestone. But safeguarding energy infrastructure remains vital. Operating within a shared electricity grid across multiple countries improves reliability. This arrangement allows transmission system operators (TSOs) to share resources, maintain a steady flow of electricity and handle mismatches between supply and demand more efficiently, helping to lower overall costs and ultimately benefiting consumers. However, geopolitical tensions have turned the Russian electricity system into a strategic paradox: the Baltic States, NATO and EU members are connected to Russia’s electricity dispatch system – a perceived security threat – for grid stability.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, NATO, Infrastructure, European Union, Geopolitics, Economy, Electricity, and Energy
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Baltic States

6. Europe's migration block crumbles in Niger

Author:
Hans Lucht
Publication Date:
02-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Frontex has warned that Russia could leverage migration and growing influence in Libya and the Sahel to put pressure on Europe. Based on fieldwork in Niger, this policy brief analyses the shifting political realities on the ground. Driving from the airport in Niamey to the city centre after the coup remains a familiar journey except for the new Russian flags at the roundabouts, alongside those of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Since the ousting of the democratically elected president, Mohammed Bazoum, in July 2023 Niger’s military rulers fronted by General Tchiani have thrown out the former colonial power France, turned their backs on Europe and the US, and formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with the political and military backing of Russia. This new and challenging scenario in the Sahel has had a profound impact on several important European priorities in the region. These range from fighting militant jihadism, to great power rivalry with Russia, competition over rich African energy and natural resources, development assistance, and also reducing irregular migration to southern Europe.
Topic:
Migration, European Union, Borders, and FRONTEX
Political Geography:
Africa, Russia, Libya, Sahel, and Niger

7. Europe's teenage jihadists

Author:
Dino Krause
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Islamic State (IS)-related terror plots in Western Europe increasingly involve individuals under the age of 18. Central to this trend is IS’s ability to disseminate propaganda online, effectively targeting younger audiences.
Topic:
Radicalization, Internet, Islamic State, Youth, Propaganda, and Jihad
Political Geography:
Europe

8. EU foreign policy in the next political cycle

Author:
Fabrizio Tassinari
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The ‘geopolitical’ Commission of the past five years is to be replaced by a ‘geoeconomic’ discourse in the next political cycle. To enact the hard strategic choices ahead for the next Commission the EU needs to refocus on the normative underpinnings, the instruments of tried-and-tested effectiveness, and on managing expectations. A ‘geophilosophy’ of Europe can be harnessed as a constitutive lens to understand and practice foreign policy.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Politics, European Union, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:
Europe

9. 8 old and new challenges for UN peacekeeping

Author:
Peter Albrecht and Corine van Emmerik
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
Recent reviews and calls from the ‘Pact for the Future’ to reshape the UN peacekeeping framework, underscore an urgent need for innovation and dialogue to ensure peacekeeping’s continued relevance. While peacekeeping’s core principles of impartiality, consent, and limited use of force remain essential for fostering trust and legitimacy, rethinking is also needed to address unresolved challenges like asymmetric warfare, regionalized conflicts, and external geopolitical influences. Denmark’s seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2025–2026 presents a crucial opportunity to shape the future of peacekeeping, particularly as adapting conflict responses aligns closely with Denmark’s key thematic priorities for its tenure. We recommend eight ways to address both enduring and emerging challenges.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, Innovation, and Dialogue
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Future-proofing peacekeeping

Author:
Peter Albrecht and Corine van Emmerik
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
As Denmark takes its seat on the Security Council amidst geopolitical tensions and global fragmentation, peacekeeping is confronting an identity crisis. This moment offers Denmark a crucial opportunity to steer discussions on fundamental questions, aligning with its priority to adapt conflict responses and prevention strategies to contemporary challenges. Peacekeeping, historically one of the UN’s most significant and visible conflict management tools, stands at a crossroads. The large, multidimensional flagship mission in Mali was terminated in 2023, and the mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has wound down, leaving lingering questions about their positive contributions to peace. No new missions, whether large or small, are currently being deployed. Furthermore, Secretary-General António Guterres appears disengaged from discussions on the future of peacekeeping, reflecting broader uncertainty about its relevance in today’s conflict landscape, and consensus among Security Council members is becoming increasingly elusive. With the background context of ongoing geopolitical tensions in Europe and the Middle East, there is a perception that peacekeeping missions deployed, supported, and/or mandated by the UN are becoming obsolete in addressing the evolving nature of modern conflicts.
Topic:
Peacekeeping, Geopolitics, UN Security Council, and Future
Political Geography:
Europe and Denmark