Publications
Torbjörn Becker in Dagens Nyheter: "Sanctions on oil could end Putin's money"
04 April 2022
In a recently published op-ed, Torbjörn Becker, Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, discusses why Russia must be forced to pay a higher price for its war in Ukraine. Sanctions should be directed at oil and gas exports, and it is also time to increase the pressure on the banking system. Frozen Russian assets in the West could later become a good basis for Ukraine's reconstruction.
SITE board member Veronika Bard in an interview with the daily Swedish newspaper SvD “What we see is totalitarianism"
01 April 2022
Former Swedish ambassador to Moscow and the OSCE Veronika Bard declares the OSCE project dead, calls for a Swedish-Russia strategy and warns against underestimating the Kremlin's political leadership.
“From small violence comes big violence”
28 March 2022
At SSE research center SITE, the war in Ukraine has not just hit close to home for research assistant Hanna Anisimova. It is literally devastating her hometown of Donetsk and threatening the lives of friends and family. But also creating rifts between them.
Why does Sweden still send financial support to Russia?
25 March 2022
Against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Swedish financial support to Russia has become questioned. Anders Olofsgård, Associate Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) and Deputy Director at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), explains why we need to understand what that support is actually financing and what its purpose is.
Trading favors? UN security council membership and subnational favoritism in aid recipients
23 March 2022
SITE researchers Maria Perrotta Berlin and Anders Olofsgård together with SITE research affiliated faculty Raj M. Desai (Georgetown University and Brookings Institution) examine the effect of a country's membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the subnational distribution of World Bank aid. They find support for the hypothesis that aid recipient governments are better able to utilize aid flows for political favoritism during periods in which they are of geo-strategic value to major donors.
Do sanctions from US and EU push autocracies closer to each other?
18 March 2022
What is the biggest problem with imposing sanctions on autocracies? How are the cost of sanctions shared across the sanctioned party? Jonathan Lehne, Assistant Professor at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), talks about the "Fortress Russia" strategy and how the Russian economy's exposure to sanctions has changed since 2014.
How can higher energy prices for oil and gas affect green transition?
18 March 2022
Can oil and gas sanctions and EU’s plans to reduce dependence on Russian energy affect EU transition to renewables? Elena Paltseva, Associate Professor at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), shares her insights and discusses the current European growth strategy.
Can Russia's economy survive? Torbjörn Becker shares his insights in BBC podcast
14 March 2022
The invasion of Ukraine has already begun reshaping the world. The bombardment of Ukrainian cities has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and forced millions to flee the country. But the war has also completely upended the global economy. Russia is paying the heaviest economic price, as it grapples with Western-led sanctions on its banks, major industries and individuals associated with President Vladimir Putin. Can Russia's economy survive?
How will the sanctions affect Russia?
09 March 2022
As fighting across Ukraine escalates and the world reacts, how will the sanctions affect Russia and can we expect them to be effective? Maria Perrotta Berlin, Assistant Professor at Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), shares her insights and discusses the potential effects of sanctions against Russia.
Securing women’s safety at the time of war
08 March 2022
On this year's International Women's Day we would like to draw attention to the women impacted by the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Evidence from other armed conflicts suggests that women are particularly vulnerable both at the site of the war and in displacement, and that gender-based violence heightens in conflict and post-conflict societies. With this in mind, the international community should pay particular attention to protection, support and well-being of affected women in this tragic time.