Contact:
Tel. +46-08-410 56961
e-mail: nnilsson /at/ silkroadstudies.org

Expertise:
- Security issues, state building, conflict and interethnic relations in the South Caucasus

- Wider Black Sea regional security


Ongoing Projects:

- Conflict Management and Ethnic Relations in the South Caucasus

Niklas Nilsson conducts research within the project “Conflict Management and Interethnic Relations in the South Caucasus” and is coordinator for the project “Europe’s Energy Security: Gazprom’s Dominance and Caspian Supply Alternatives”.

He holds an M.A. in Political Science from Lund University and has studied Post-Communist Transitions in Eastern Europe at Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration. He has also pursued Russian language studies at Stockholm and Uppsala Universities. He has previously served as an intern at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) in Stockholm and as a guest researcher at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, Tbilisi.

Mr. Nilsson currently specializes in state building processes, conflict, and regional security in the Caucasus and the Wider Black Sea Region.

Publications

Books & Monographs

“Georgia’s May 2008 Parliamentary Elections: Setting Sail in a Storm”, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, Stockholm, May 2008. (With Svante E. Cornell).

“Learning from Georgia’s Crisis: Implications and Recommendations”, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, Stockholm, December 2007. (With Svante E. Cornell and Johanna Popjanevski).

“Europe’s Energy Security: Gazprom’s Dominance and Caspian Supply Alternatives”, Institute for Security and Development Policy, Forthcoming, January 2008. (Co-Edited with Svante E. Cornell).

”The Wider Black Sea Region: An Emerging Hub of European Security”, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, Washington and Uppsala, December 2006. (With Svante E. Cornell, Anna Jonsson, and Per Häggström).

Journal Articles

“EU-GUAM: Engagement or Estrangement?”, Central Asia and the Caucasus, Forthcoming. (With Nicklas Norling).

"Daha Yakin Bir Avrupa Komsulugu: Genis Karadeniz Bölgesi ve Avrupa Güvenligi" [A Closer European Neighborhood: The Wider Black Sea Region and European Security], Avrasya Dosyasi [Ankara], vol. 13 no. 1, 2007. (With Svante E. Cornell)

“Hotbilder och Nationell Samhörighet i Georgien” [Threat Perceptions and National Community in Georgia], Nordiskt Östforum [Nordic Journal of East European Studies], No. 2, 2006.


Short Articles/Analyses

“Unwelcome Crisis Ahead of Georgia’s Elections”, Central Asia – Caucasus Analyst, 30 April, 2008.

“Tbilisi Withdraws from the Joint Control Commission; Proposes New Format for South Ossetia”, Central Asia – Caucasus Analyst, 19 March, 2008.

“Tensions Escalate Over South Ossetia”, Central Asia – Caucasus Analyst, 11 July 2007.

“GUAM Leaders Discuss Conflicts and Energy in Baku”, Central Asia – Caucasus Analyst, 27 June 2007.

“Changes in Armenia’s Political Landscape Set Scene for Presidential Elections”, Central Asia – Caucasus Analyst, 31 May 2007.

“Republican Party of Armenia Strengthens Grip over Parliament”, Central Asia – Caucasus Analyst, 16 May 2007.

Op-eds

“Rysslands hot växer” [Escalating Russian Threats], Sydsvenska Dagbladet, April 2008. (With Svante E. Cornell).

Reports

“National Minorities and the State in Georgia”, Report of Joint Conference with Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, Tbilisi, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, Washington and Uppsala, June 2006. (With Johanna Popjanevski).

"Conflict Management and Ethnic Relations in the South Caucasus: National Minorities in Georgia", Workshop Report, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, Washington and Uppsala, June 2006. (With Johanna Popjanevski).

Conferences and Speaking Engagements

Security from Europe to the South Caucasus through Turkey
Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies; International Association of Young Diplomats, Businessmen, Scientists and Lawyers; The Strategic Research Centre of Yeditepe University. Tbilisi, March 27-28, 2008. Paper presented: “Prospects for Territorial Integrity in the South Caucasus: Geopolitics, State Building, and Conflict Resolution”.

Regional Security, Energy Security, and NATO: Future Problems and Possibilities
EURISC Foundation and Royal United Services Institute, Constanta, February 19-20, 2008. Paper presented: “Problems in Forming a Common EU Energy Policy: Supply Diversification in the Black Sea/Caspian Regions”.

Lecture on Political Developments in Georgia
Lecture given to election observers ahead of the Georgian Presidential Elections. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Stockholm, December, 2007. (With Johanna Popjanevski).

Energy Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection
EURISC Foundation and World Security Network, Bucharest, November 22-24, 2007. Paper presented: “Prospects for Energy Cooperation in the Black Sea Region: Contradictory Strategies, Diverging Interests and the Role of Regional Organizations”.

The Association for the Study of Nationalities 2007 World Convention
Columbia University, New York, April 12-14, 2007. Paper presented: “Threats to Building a Civic Nation: Georgia’s Armenian Minority and Conflicting Threat Perceptions”.