"We envisage research projects in areas such as propaganda, misinformation and political campaigns from a historical perspective. We are convinced that historical knowledge and awareness are helpful for decision-makers in the various spheres of society," says the director of the center, Dr. Rikard Westerberg.

The new Center for Statecraft and Political Communication forms part of the Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy (AJI). The institute is a collaboration between the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit, the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge, the Centre for Grand Strategy at King’s College London, the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C, and the new center at the Stockholm School of Economics. The intention is to establish a new transatlantic research environment in which historically minded scholars can immerse themselves in international relations, diplomacy, strategy and communication. The center at the Stockholm School of Economics will conduct research at the crossroads between statecraft, history and political communication.

The initiative entails the Stockholm School of Economics strengthening its research in the broader social sciences and humanities.

"The new center represents a vigorous investment in research-based, contextualized social science. Through high-quality, multidisciplinary research, the Stockholm School of Economics seeks to contribute to the understanding of how countries and societies are organized and governed. To understand our own times, as well as our future, we need a deeper understanding of historical lines of development. The constellation of collaborating universities provides an intellectually stimulating, creative environment in which the level of research ambition is high," says Lars Strannegård, President of the Stockholm School of Economics.

The new center will employ three doctoral students and six postdoctoral students for a period of four years. An equal number of researchers will also be recruited by the other research centers in the UK and the US and will be connected through the AJI framework. The Ax:son Johnson Foundation’s initial donation for the project amounts to SEK 80 million, of which SEK 20 million is earmarked for the Stockholm School of Economics.

"It is our hope that the new center at the Stockholm School of Economics and the Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy will contribute to insight and in-depth study in an age marked by geopolitical challenges and global political instability. Our fundamental view is that increased historical knowledge is central to safeguarding the democratic liberal world order and human rights," says Viveca Ax:son Johnson, Chairman of the Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation for Public Benefit.