About the centre
The aim of the Hans Blix Centre is to serve as a Swedish platform for historical research about power relations in the international system exerted by states and non-state actors, inter-governmental organizations, international law, transnational corporations, lobbyists, activists and other groups of actors which are studied from international, transnational and global perspectives.
The Hans Blix Centre for the History of International Relations at Stockholm University was formally established on 1 March 2020. Its activities started in the form of a network established in the spring of 2018 by researchers from the Department of History and the Department of Economic History and International Relations.
International History is rooted in Diplomatic History and has undergone various shifts in recent decades resulting in a new dynamic academic field integrating perspectives, theories and methods from related and other disciplines including political science and IR, economy, gender studies, psychology or sociology. The purpose of the HBC is to initiate and stimulate historically informed research about Swedish foreign policy, the country's role in the world and international relations more broadly on the basis of this innovative approach.
Because of its proximity to decision-makers and government archives, Stockholm University is naturally predestined to harbour a Swedish centre for the history of international relations.
Patron
Hans Blix was born in Uppsala in 1928. He studied Law at Uppsala University and Columbia University and received his PhD in International Law at the University of Cambridge (Trinity Hall) in 1958. In 1959, he received his Swedish JD at Stockholm University where he was appointed docent one year later. His doctoral dissertation "Some Aspects of the Conclusion of Treaties" was published under the title of Treaty-making power by Stevens & Sons in 1961. In 1962, Blix was employed by Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and became a member of the Swedish delegations to the United Nations (1961–1981) and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (1962–1976). In 1976, he was appointed Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and two years later he became Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affairs in the liberal government led by Ola Ullsten. Blix then led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) between 1981 and 1997 and served as Chairman of UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) from 2000 to 2003. His magnum opus A Farewell to Wars will be published by Cambridge University Press in October 2023.
Blix seminars
Seminar programme, autumn semester 2023
The Blix Seminar usually gathers on Wednesdays, 3 PM at Gula Villan (Svante Arrhenius väg 33).
13 September
Una Bergmane (University of Helsinki), “Politics of Uncertainty. The United States, the Baltic Question, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union”.
11 October
Vladislav Zubok (London School of Economics and Political Science), “Collapse. The Fall of the Soviet Union”.
18 October
WORKSHOP: "Seven Decades of Collaboration: Sweden and Switzerland at the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission in Korea” (in cooperation with the Swiss Embassy).
15 November
Giles Scott-Smith (Leiden University), “Pandora's Box? Citizen Diplomacy and New Diplomatic History".
29 November
Mikael Holmström (Dagens Nyheter), "Bevakningen av rikets säkerhet: hur journalistiska metoder ledde till nya rön om Sveriges hemliga samarbete med NATO" ("How Journalistic Methods Led to New Insights About Sweden's Secret Cooperation with NATO).
13 December
Irena Fliter (University of Göttingen), "The Camondo Family – Cultures of Power between the Ottoman Empire and Europe in the Late Eighteenth Century" (in cooperation with the Seminar in Early Modern History).
Last updated: 2025-10-09
Source: Hans Blix Centre