Dear SSJ-Forum subscribers,

The Strategic Communications Education and Research Unit (SCERU) and the Graduate School of Public Policy of the University of Tokyo (GraSPP) are pleased to invite you to a seminar as detailed below:

TITLE: Swedish Psychological Defence Agency - Director-General Discusses Disinformation and FIMI Countermeasures

 

DATE & TIME:

Thursday 14 November 2024

5:30 p.m. - 6:40 p.m. (JST)

VENUE:

SMBC Academia Hall, 4th floor, International Academic Research Building, Hongo campus, the University of Tokyo
*Please note that this event will be held on-site only.

*The venue opens at 5:10 p.m.

For security reasons, please bring your ID with you to enter the venue.

REGISTRATION:

Please register here.

LANGUAGE:

English

SYNOPSIS:

According to the Swedish Government, the security situation in Sweden's neighbourhood and in Europe is at present the most precarious since the Second　World War.

The Swedish Psychological Defence Agency was established in January 2022 as part of the rebuilding of Swedish Total Defence to counter foreign information threats (FIMI) against Sweden or Swedish interests. The tasks of the agency include analysis, threat assessment, supporting the countering of FIMI, as well as building resilience and awareness in Sweden through training, exercises and lectures. The Agency also funds and disseminates research on FIMI.

The lecture by Director General Dr. Magnus Hjort will focus on how Sweden is assessing the threats in the information (cognitive) domain and how to mitigate the situation or prevent authoritarian states from distorting our democracies and sovereign decision making.

This seminar will be moderated by Dr. Chiyuki Aoi, Professor and Director, SCERU.

SPEAKER:

Dr. Magnus Hjort

Director General, Swedish Psychological Defence Agency

Dr Hjort assumed his current position as Director General in September 2023 after serving in several leadership positions to plan and establish the Swedish Psychological Defense Agency, and to develop its institutional capacity.

His previous positions include Senior Analyst at the Swedish Defence University, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Swedish Council for Higher Education, Deputy Director General at the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, Head of Strategic Analysis Unit at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, and Head of Research and Strategic Analysis at the Swedish Emergency Management Agency.

He has a Ph.D. from Stockholm University in History with a research focus on the Cold War and Security and Military History. Among his published works is his doctoral thesis of 2004 "Nationens livsfråga": Propaganda och upplysning i försvarets tjänst 1944-1963. (The Essential Issue of the Nation: Propaganda and Information in the Service of Swedish Defence 1944-1963).

Dr Hjort is a member of The Swedish Royal Academy of War Sciences.

ABOUT SCERU:

In June 2022, the Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP) at the University of Tokyo established the Strategic Communications Education and Research Unit (SCERU) to conduct research and education on Strategic Communications. The Unit's establishment was supported by the European Union's Enhancing Security In and With Asia (ESIWA) project.

The Unit organises programmes for teaching, academic and policy research, and professional seminars and engagement sessions on Strategic Communications, including the following:

• The European Union-supported education and research programmes (academic courses, practitioner engagement, public engagement, and research projects), initially focused on 'Ambiguity as Strategic Communications Praxis' (completed fall 2023)

• Executive Course on Strategic Communications [Shakaijin kōza]

• JSPS-funded international comparative study of the systems and institutions of strategic communications and countermeasures against foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI)

• Public Seminars

CONTACT FOR INQUIRY:

GraSPP Research Seminar Secretariat
Email: graspp_eventinfo<at>pp.u-tokyo.ac.jp (please replace <at> with @)

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