Political Science » Research » Niklas Bremberg

Niklas Bremberg

M.A., Ph.D. Candidate

E-mail: niklas.bremberg@statsvet.su.se

Contact information »

Research interest

My Ph.D. project focuses on the evolution of the political and security relations between the European Union (EU) and its southern vicinity (the Mediterranean). In the light of the process of EU enlargement and the development of EU policies towards neighbouring states (such as the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Barcelona Process/Union for the Mediterranean), new questions need to be asked as to how to understand the institutional and political boundaries of the EU. In my Ph.D. project I aim to develop an analytical framework, primarily drawing upon the concept of security community, and apply it in order to study how the EU’s Mediterranean policies have affected Spanish-Moroccan relations in three policy areas (trade, civil protection and defence) since 1995. 

My research interests include theories of international relations and European integration, security studies, identity politics, Euro-Mediterranean relations and Spanish foreign and security policies.

Ph.D. dissertation: "Exploring the Dynamics of Security Community-Building in the post-Cold War Era: Spain, Morocco and the European Union" (2012). Abstract »

Publications

Niklas Bremberg (2012) “Security, Governance and Community beyond the European Union: Exploring Issue-level Dynamics in Euro-Mediterranean Civil Protection” in: Barbé, Esther & Anna Herranz (eds.) The Challenge of Differentiation in Euro-Mediterranean Relations: Flexible Regional Cooperation or Fragmentation. London, Routledge

Niklas Bremberg (2010) "Civil Protection: the New Dimension of Mediterranean Security", Mediterranean Yearbook 2010
http://www.iemed.org/anuari/2010/aarticles/Bremberg_Civil_en.pdf

Niklas Bremberg (2010) "Security, Governance and Community beyond the European Union: Exploring Issue-Level Dynamics in Euro-Mediterranean Civil Protection", Mediterranean Politics, 15:2, pp.169-188

Niklas Bremberg & Malena Britz (2009) "Uncovering the diverging institutional logics of EU civil protection", Cooperation and Conflict, 44:3, pp.288-308

Niklas Bremberg, Ahmed Driss, Jakob Horst, Eduard Soler i Lecha & Isabelle Werenfels (2009) “Flexible Multilateralism: Unlimited Opportunities? The Case of Civil Protection in the Mediterranean” EuroMeSCo Papers, no.80
http://www.euromesco.net/images/paper80eng.pdf

Niklas Bremberg (2008) “Från Barcelonaprocess till Medelhavsunion – och tillbaka igen? [From Barcelona process to Mediterranean Union – and back again?], Internationella Studier, 2008:2, pp.12-19

Niklas Bremberg Heijl (2007) “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Euro-Mediterranean Security Revisited”, Mediterranean Politics, 12:1, pp.1-16

Niklas Bremberg Heijl (2006) “Clash of Expectations? EU, Spain and Maghreb in the Mediterranean Security Region(s)”, Studies in Security, no.2, Stockholm: Swedish National Defence College

Niklas Bremberg Heijl (2006) “Quo Vadis, Hispania?”, Internationella Studier, 2006:2, pp.21-26

Niklas Bremberg Heijl (2004) “Spaniens återkomst till Europa [Spain’s return to Europe]”, Internationella Studier, 2004:4, pp.8-13 

Book reviews

Niklas Bremberg (2010) "Wither Europa Irredenta? Norms in International Politics", International Studies Review, 12:3 pp.478-480

Niklas Bremberg (2010) "La política exterior española hacia el Magreb: Actores e intereses", Journal of North African Studies, 15:1, pp.132-134

Conference papers

“EU and the Arab Spring: What Lessons for the EU as International Actor?” presented at the 53rd Annual Conference of the International Studies Association. (ISA), 1-4 April 2012, San Diego, United States

"Exploring the Boundaries of Security Communities: Spain, Morocco and the EU" presented at the 3rd International Ph.D. Workshop on Transnational Dimensions of Global Governance (Hebrew University), 23-25 November 2011, Jerusalem, Israel

"EU-Morocco relations after Lisbon: What's new about the Union's 'special relationships' with its neighbours?" presented at the ECPR 6th General Conference, 25-27 August 2011, Reykjavik, Iceland

"Widened security, expanding community? On the development of EU civil protection as an emerging community of practice" presented at the ECPR/SGIR 7th Pan-European International Relations Conference, 9-11 September 2010, Stockholm, Sweden

"Exploring the boundaries of the European security community: the case of Euro-Mediterranean civil protection" presented at the 3rd ECPR Graduate Conference (Dublin City University), 30 August – 1 September 2010, Dublin, Ireland

"Security, governance and community beyond the European Union: Exploring issue-level dynamics in Euro-Mediterranean civil protection" presented at the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona), 19-24 July 2010, Barcelona, Spain

"Security, Governance and Community beyond the European Union: Exploring the Practices of Euro-Mediterranean Civil Protection" presented at the 51st Annual Conference of the International Studies Association (ISA), 17-20 February 2010, New Orleans, United States

“Exploring the External Dimension of European Cooperation in the Area of Internal Security: The Case of Euro-Mediterranean Civil Protection”presented at the ECPR Joint Sessions (Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, CIES-ISCTE), 14-19 April 2009, Lisbon, Portugal

"Broaden security, deepened community? On the possible expansion of the European security community towards the Mediterranean" presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Swedish Political Science Association (SWEPSA) (Uppsala University), 26-27 September 2008, Uppsala, Sweden

“Extending the European Security Community beyond EU enlargement? The case of the Euro-Mediterranean Civil Protection System”, presented at the 2nd ECPR Graduate Conference (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona), 25-27 August 2008, Barcelona, Spain

(With Malena Britz) “Who is responsible for protecting the citizens? Exploring the diverging institutional logics of EU civil protection”, presented at the External and Internal Security Policy Nexus: Beyond the Domestic-International Divide (research conference co-organized by Forum for Security Studies and Stockholm Network for Security Studies), 14-16 May 2008, Stockholm, Sweden

“Extending the European Security Community beyond EU Enlargement?: The Case of the Euro-Mediterranean Civil Protection System”, presented at The external dimension of intra-EU security: the CFSP, ESDP and JHA in the ENP area (Challenge network conference), 22 February 2008, Barcelona, Spain

“The European Union and the Mediterranean: community-building beyond EU enlargement?” presented at the Annual Meeting of the Swedish Political Science Association, 17-19 October 2007, Norrköping, Sweden

(With Malena Britz) “EU Civil Protection and the New Security Role of the Union”, presented at ECPR’s 6th Pan-European International Relations Conference, Standing Group on International Relations, 12-15 September 2007, Turin, Italy

“The Struggle for Europe in Spain: the Meaning of State, Nation and Europe in Spanish Parliamentary Debate”, presented at the National Seminar on Methods in Political Science, 12-13 June 2007, Haga Slott, Enköping, Sweden

Teaching

I teach international politics (basic course) as well as institutions and governance (master course) at the Dept. of Political Science, Stockholm University. I have also held lectures and seminars on the foreign and security policies of the EU at the Swedish National Defence College (Försvarshögskolan) and Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona.

Research grant

“European Foreign and Security Policies Studies” funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (Sweden), VolkswagenStiftung (Germany) and Compagnia di San Paolo (Italy). Within the programme and during the period 2008-2010, I am pursuing a research project on civil protection cooperation in the Mediterranean region, involving EU member states and non-members. The grant allows me to conduct research abroad, at the European Policy Centre in Brussels (September-December 2008) and el Institut Universitari d’Estudis Europeus in Barcelona (February-July 2009). http://www.efsps.eu/about/program.php

Professional experience

2005-2006 Swedish National Defence College (Stockholm)
Research assistant at the Department for Strategy and Security Studies. Assistant editor on a book project about the EU as global actor. Assistant investigator on a research project about EU member states and civil protection.

2003 Swedish Trade Council (Madrid)
Responsible for handling and providing export information at the Swedish Trade Council’s office in Madrid as well as assisting senior consultants and representing STC at commercial events in Madrid.   

2000-2006 Right Livelihood Award Foundation (Stockholm)
Guide and assistant to award winners during their visit in Stockholm (one week in December each year). I have worked with award winners from Indonesia, Venezuela, Paraguay, the Philippines, Argentine and Mexico.