SIPRI

SIPRI
Name	Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Formation	1966
Headquarters	Stockholm, Sweden
Leader title	Director
Leader name	Dan Smith

SIPRI

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. Founded in 1966 in Stockholm with a mandate from the Swedish government and encouragement from the United Nations, SIPRI produces data, analysis and recommendations used by scholars, policymakers and international organizations such as the United Nations Security Council, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, European Union and African Union. SIPRI's work interfaces with treaties and institutions including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Arms Trade Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Overview

SIPRI conducts multidisciplinary research across peace and security topics involving actors such as the United States Department of Defense, the People's Liberation Army, the Russian Armed Forces, the People's Republic of China, the Indian Armed Forces, the Pakistani Armed Forces, and regional organizations like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Its outputs include quantitative datasets, qualitative reports and policy briefs that inform debates in venues like the United Nations General Assembly, the International Court of Justice, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and national legislatures such as the United States Congress and the UK Parliament. SIPRI collaborates with research institutions such as the Stockholm School of Economics, the Peace Research Institute Oslo, the Royal United Services Institute, the International Institute for Strategic Studies and universities including Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and Stanford University.

History

SIPRI was established in response to Cold War tensions after initiatives involving figures connected to the Soviet Union, the United States, and Nordic diplomacy, following recommendations that drew on earlier efforts like the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and the work of the International Peace Research Association. Its founding in 1966 followed deliberations in Stockholm and input from diplomats connected to the United Nations and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Over decades SIPRI has tracked events from the Vietnam War and the Yom Kippur War to the Gulf War, the Kosovo War, the Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), the Syrian Civil War and the Russo-Ukrainian War, adapting methods used by analysts of the Cold War and drawing on comparative work from scholars of the Non-Aligned Movement and members of the European Security and Defence Policy community. Directors and senior staff have engaged with Nobel laureates and policymakers associated with institutions such as the Nobel Committee, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

Research and Publications

SIPRI publishes annual and thematic reports, including the widely cited annual "SIPRI Yearbook", country- and region-specific studies, and thematic monographs that have been cited alongside works from the RAND Corporation, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Brookings Institution and the Chatham House research unit. Publications examine arms transfers involving companies like Lockheed Martin, Rosoboronexport, BAE Systems, Dassault Aviation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and analyze nuclear issues tied to states party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as well as to the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards system. SIPRI's authors have written on topics intersecting with the Chemical Weapons Convention investigations, the implications of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty withdrawal, and sanctions regimes administered by entities like the European Commission and the United States Department of the Treasury. The institute's peer-reviewed analyses appear in journals alongside articles in International Security, Journal of Peace Research, Foreign Affairs and Survival.

Data and Databases

SIPRI maintains open-access databases on military expenditure, arms transfers, and nuclear forces that are widely used by researchers at institutions such as the Stockholm International Water Institute and policy teams at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. The arms transfers database records deliveries of major conventional weapons among states including exporters like the United States, Russia, France, Germany, and China; the military expenditure database provides time series comparable with data from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; and the nuclear forces dataset tracks strategic weapon holdings and delivery systems with links to national inventories from the Russian Federation, the United States of America, France, United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, and Israel. SIPRI's datasets are used to construct indicators employed by research centers such as the Stockholm Environment Institute and NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Impact and Influence

SIPRI's analyses inform treaty negotiations and verification efforts, and its data underpin reporting by media outlets such as the BBC, Reuters, The New York Times, The Guardian and Al Jazeera. Policymakers cite SIPRI in debates on procurement in parliaments including the Bundestag and the Knesset, and international delegations reference SIPRI datasets during sessions of the Conference on Disarmament and meetings of the G7 and G20. Academic citations appear across publications in fields connected to security studies produced at Columbia University, Yale University and the London School of Economics. SIPRI analysts have provided testimony to bodies including the European Parliament and national defense committees, and its work has influenced sanctions discussions involving the United Nations Security Council and regional arms embargoes established through the African Union.

Funding and Governance

SIPRI is funded through a mix of core contributions, project grants and donations from national governments such as Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, and Switzerland, multilateral organizations including the European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme, and foundations such as the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Governance structures include a governing board composed of members drawn from institutions like the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, and international experts connected to universities and research councils including the Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. The institute maintains institutional relationships with research partners across regions, balances independence safeguards common to think tanks like the International Crisis Group and the Institute for Security Studies (South Africa), and follows transparency practices comparable to those of the Open Society Foundations and major university research centers.

Category:Think tanks based in Sweden