Yesterday, I gave a lecture on possible future scenarios — all of them rather bleak — at the Home Guard’s officers' mess. The discussion continued over dinner. A stimulating evening in excellent company.

Just back from a short trip to Mallorca with some of the buddies I did my conscription service with — 36 years ago! Much has changed since then, but friendships remain.

Back from a fabulous mountain trek with my son!

Veterans Day in Sweden today. Grateful for peace—and reminded of the need to protect it. Today also marks 85 years since the founding of the Swedish Home Guard. 🇸🇪 #Veterandagen #Hemvärnet

Shared a few more photos from Bosnia 1996—album linked below.

Possibly my last public appearance as Director of the Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament: honoured to speak on arms control at the Parliament with FOI experts Karl Sörenson and Martin Goliath. Grateful to draw on insights from our new AMCdata—80+ arms control agreements (link in comments)!

Beautiful walk home after the inaugural Peter Wallensteen Lecture delivered by Professor Mary Ellen O’Connell and organized by the Department of Peace and Conflict Research in honor of its founder, Peter Wallensteen. Hard to believe it’s been more than 30 years since Peter became my thesis advisor!

Tired but happy today as an 8-day exercise with the Home Guard wraps up. As always, it's been a great mix of learning, camaraderie, and purposeful work. I thought I’d share a bit about what the Swedish Home Guard is, and how it fits into the broader concept of Sweden’s Total Defense.

Idag medverkade jag i panelen "Krig, fred & jämställdhet" på Forum Jämställdhet, med Gabriela Elroy, Olov Kesselmark, Malin Nilsson och Per Nilsson – modererade av Charlotte Isaksson. Fint att se ett brett engagemang som bidrar till ett bättre samhälle och ett starkare försvar!

I en intervju med Svenska Yle @yle.naamio.social om kärnvapen tar jag upp risken att fler länder utvecklar #kärnvapen framöver. Jag anser att detta är ytterligare skäl till varför stödet till Ukraina är i vårt intresse. Utöver de starka moraliska skälen.
yle.fi/a/7-10070631

From AMC:
"With two weeks left to submit proposals for our 12-13 June conference on nuclear disarmament, we want to extend a special invitation to all natural scientists! Are you researching something broadly related to nuclear disarmament or do you know someone who does?" uu.se/en/centre/al...

Today, I shared a brief comment with Svenska Yle on my interpretation of Russia's revised nuclear doctrine:
"Melander sees this as yet another example of Russian signaling policy.
– This statement primarily reflects Russian weakness, says Melander."
Link to the article (in Swedish) below.

Just returned home after a fantastic week of meetings (and a short mountain trek) in Thailand! Engaging in seminars and meetings and delving into discussions on our research and current issues was inspiring. Here are links to some of our Thailand research w @elinbja.bsky.social and other colleagues.

In Thailand, for a series of meetings with academics, politicians, and civil society. But first - a short but spectacular mountain trek!

I'm wary about glorifying war in general, but today I want to honor Finland's fight for independence. Happy Independence Day!
The picture shows Finnish soldiers raising the flag at the cairn between Finland, Sweden and Norway on 27 April 1945, which marked the end of World War II in Finland.

Interestingly, exactly the same phrase is in the agreement with Norway. But their agreement also explicitly mentions the Norwegian policies on nuclear weapons and the stationing of foreign forces.
www.state.gov/wp-content/u...

Är det verkligen fred vi vill ha
till varje tänkbart pris?

Mikael Wiehe, Fred (Till Melanie)

"Sverige möts” i SVT ska ikväll debattera vad som krävs för att få stopp på kriget i Ukraina. I SVD argumenterade jag för att vi bör öka stödet till Ukraina för fredens skull. 🧵 1/3

Jag blev ombedd att besvara fem frågor om att Ryssland överväger att lämna provstoppsavtalet CTBT. Väldigt svårt men också en intressant utmaning att försöka säga något vettigt om så stora frågor på så lite utrymme.

The call for proposals for the 2024 Annual Conference of the Alva Myrdal-centre for Nuclear Disarmament is now open! The cross-disciplinary conference takes place 18-19 June in Uppsala (online in parts). Call closes 3 Dec. I hope to see you in Uppsala in June!
#nukesky
www3.uu.se/alvamyrdalce...

Today is an important day in Sweden: National Cinnamon Bun Day. Yesterday, the Swedish Army unveiled some retro-inspired service dress uniform prototypes, complete with gigantic pockets, perfect for storing bags of cinnamon buns. Coincidence? I think not!