Sweden is often perceived as a safe place, with a low crime rate and progressive politics, this is, however, a misconception. Gun crime in Sweden is rife and as of the 15th November 2022, according to Swedish police statistics, there has been a total of 360 shootings this year. As a result of these shootings, there have been 57 fatalities, 98 people wounded and multiple residences, businesses, and buildings have been…

How realistic are proposals to provide security assurances to Ukraine? And how likely is it that Ukraine will be successful in its accelerated attempts to join NATO? The Russia-Ukraine war appears to be turning into a protracted conflict, and the political and economic war between the West and Russia sees sanctions and counter-sanctions continue to be exchanged, including threatening the energy supply to Europe ahead of the coming winter. However, while these events have understandably dominated coverage…

There’s been a significant increase in consumption of audio-only content over the last decade with reports estimating that there’ll be over 424 million regular podcast listeners by the end of 2022. There are also over 45 million podcast episodes available online, meaning anyone can freely access interesting, valuable content about…

Now more than a year since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, is the group standing by its agreement to counter the spread of terror groups within the country? Or, following the recent killing of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul, is Afghanistan once again becoming a haven for terrorism, just as it was under the Taliban before the 11th September attacks in 2001? As part of the agreement between the USA and the Taliban which secured the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban agreed that they would effectively counter the spread of international terror groups such as Islamic State and Al Qaeda on Afghan soil. Despite reassurances from the Taliban that…

As TikTok continues to surpass other social media platforms as the go-to app for information as well as entertainment, we take a closer look at the role TikTok plays in open-source intelligence gathering. What is TikTok? TikTok is an iOS and Android media app centred around creating, sharing and discovering short-form videos. It’s owned by parent company, Bytedance, which originally launched an app called Douyin in mainland China in September 2016. TikTok is the international version of Douyin and was launched outside of the Chinese market…

Could Nancy Pelosi spark tensions between the US and China by becoming the first sitting speaker of the House to visit Taiwan in 25 years? A report from the Financial Times announced on Tuesday, the 19th July that U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi planned to visit Taiwan, sparking…

Alongside growing division across the world is a severely unstable, and therefore unpredictable, global economy. Ongoing conflicts, a worsening cost of living crisis and the persistence of the pandemic have fostered a highly volatile operating environment for most businesses. — With the fast-changing nature of this landscape and the consequent uncertainty, the responsibilities of security teams worldwide have not only become significantly more important but also much more difficult. And as a result, threat intelligence has never been more in demand.

A closer look at the activities of the Wagner Group in Africa, from the countries it is active in to its reported numbers and alleged atrocities — as well as the Wagner Group’s origins, and how it serves to spread the influence and interests of the Russian state. Who are the Wagner Group? The Wagner…

As South Korea’s new President takes office on the 10th May 2022 amid promises to bolster national security, he will be faced with a North Korean (DPRK) regime seemingly set on achieving nuclear weapons, and at a time of increased weapons testing. We take a look at how Yoon Suk-yeol may plan to deal with the North Korean threat, as well as how he may shape South Korea’s wider foreign policy going forward.