UI welcomes Volker Perthes as 2028 Olof Palme visiting professor
The Swedish Research Council has awarded the 2028 Olof Palme visiting professorship to Volker Perthes of Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Germany. During his time in Sweden, he will be based at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) and visit Lund, Stockholm and Uppsala universities.
At UI, Perthes will carry out research within the project “Geopolitics, connectivity, and the changing contours of the Middle East” to explore new economic and security dynamics among state and non-state actors in the region.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to strengthen UI’s support for research, analysis and teaching in Sweden on an increasingly important topic: how the politics of the Middle Eastern region is being reconfigured,” says Niklas Bremberg, Research Leader at UI.
Jakob Hallgren, Director of UI, agrees:
”We are very much looking forward to welcoming him to the institute. Recent developments related to the US–Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz only serve to underline the importance and relevance of Dr Perthes’ project.”
Dr Volker Perthes is an internationally renowned scholar, commentator, and former UN diplomat. He is currently a Senior Distinguished Fellow with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
At the United Nations, he served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Sudan and Head of UNITAMS (2021–2023), and as Head of the Independent Strategic Review of UNAMI (Iraq) (2023–2024) with the rank of Under-Secretary-General.
From 2005 to 2020, Perthes was Executive Chairman and Director of SWP. He also served as UN Assistant Secretary-General and Senior Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria. He has taught international relations at several universities, including the American University of Beirut and Humboldt University Berlin.
Perthes has authored numerous books and articles on the Middle East, Europe, and international affairs. His latest book The Multipolarisation of the World. A Geopolitical Guide was published in German by Suhrkamp-Verlag, Berlin, in 2026.