Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is a globally recognized independent institute dedicated to research on international security, conflict, arms control, and peacebuilding. Founded in 1966 and headquartered in Solna, Sweden, SIPRI has become one of the world’s most authoritative sources of open-source data on military expenditure, arms transfers, and global conflict trends (SIPRI, n.d.-a). Its annual SIPRI Yearbook and databases are widely used by governments, international organizations, journalists, and researchers.

1. Identification & Metadata

Name, Founding, Legal Status

SIPRI was established in 1966 on the initiative of Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander, following recommendations by a commission chaired by Alva Myrdal (SIPRI, n.d.-b). The institute is an independent foundation created by a decision of the Swedish Parliament in commemoration of 150 years of Swedish peace.

Its headquarters is located at Signalistgatan 9, Solna (Stockholm), Sweden (OnThinkTanks, 2025).

Staff Size and Budget

SIPRI employs approximately 100 staff, including researchers, support staff, and visiting fellows (SIPRI, n.d.-a). Although detailed budgets vary, publicly available information indicates a scale consistent with medium-sized international policy institutes.

Governance

As of 2025, the Chair of the Governing Board is former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, and the Director is Dan Smith (Wikipedia, 2025). Board members include prominent global figures such as Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Chan Heng Chee, Noha El-Mikawy, and Jean-Marie Guéhenno (SIPRI, 2022).

2. Mission, Vision & Organisational Structure

Mission and Vision

SIPRI’s vision is “a world in which sources of insecurity are identified and understood, conflicts are prevented or resolved, and peace is sustained” (SIPRI, n.d.-a).

Its mission includes:

research on security, conflict, peace, and disarmament

providing policy analysis for decision-makers

supporting dialogue and confidence-building

promoting transparency and accountability in global security

Organizational Structure

SIPRI’s structure includes:

Governing Board

Director and Deputy Director

Research Staff Collegium

Administrative and Programme Support Units

These bodies collectively oversee the institute’s agenda, quality control, and policy outreach (SIPRI, 2006).

Funding Model

SIPRI receives its core funding from the Government of Sweden, supplemented by grants from international donors and philanthropic foundations (SIPRI, n.d.-a).

3. Thematic & Methodological Profile

Primary Research Areas

SIPRI structures its work under three thematic pillars (Wikipedia, 2025):

Armament and Disarmament

Conflict, Peace and Security

Peace and Development

Within these, SIPRI researches:

military expenditure

arms transfers

weapons of mass destruction

emerging military technologies

cyber and space security

peace operations

climate–security interactions

SIPRI also maintains a prominent Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Programme, addressing conflict drivers in predominantly Muslim countries (SIPRI, n.d.-a).

Methods

SIPRI’s methodology is characterized by:

exclusive use of open-source data

reliance on national reports, UN data, media sources

large quantitative databases (military expenditure, arms transfers)

policy and trend analysis (SIPRI, 2025)

SIPRI rarely publishes qualitative fieldwork methods or human-subject research protocols.

Peer Review and Publications

SIPRI’s main publications include:

SIPRI Yearbook

SIPRI Policy Reports

Backgrounders

Fact Sheets

Datasets

Yearbook chapters undergo internal expert review (SIPRI, 2006).

4. Representative Outputs (Islam / MENA Affairs)

2025: Recent Trends in Arms Transfers in MENA

The 2025 SIPRI backgrounder reported that the Middle East accounted for over 27% of global major arms imports from 2020–2024 (SIPRI, 2025).

2022: SALW Controls in MENA

A 2022 backgrounder identified gaps in small arms control frameworks and documented the proliferation of illicit weapons across conflict zones (SIPRI, 2022).

SIPRI Yearbook MENA Chapters

Annual chapters provide overviews of MENA conflicts, peace processes, and weapons proliferation dynamics (SIPRI, 2022).

5. Policy Impact

Government agencies, parliaments, and NGOs widely use SIPRI’s data.

The Swedish Government regularly highlights SIPRI’s role in evidence-based peace and security research (SIPRI, n.d.-a).

SIPRI’s Arms Transfers Database is used by the UN, EU, and national governments for monitoring compliance with arms-control regimes (Wikipedia, 2025).

6. Stakeholder Engagement & Ethics

SIPRI seldom conducts field research requiring formal human-subjects protocols. Thus, it rarely publishes ethical guidelines, informed consent procedures, or community-partner statements. Its MENA programme does seek to examine “local peacebuilding,” but concrete evidence of engagement with Muslim religious scholars or local civil society actors is limited (SIPRI, n.d.-a).

7. Funding & Conflict of Interest Analysis

SIPRI receives a core grant from the Swedish Government, plus additional contributions from international donors (SIPRI, n.d.-a). However, SIPRI does not publicly disclose a full list of private or philanthropic donors annually, and this partial transparency raises potential concerns about conflict-of-interest assessment.

8. Editorial Independence

The Governing Board’s international composition supports institutional independence. Board members are not responsible for the views expressed in SIPRI publications (SIPRI, 1968–69).

SIPRI maintains an internal editorial review system rather than double-blind academic peer review.

9. Academic Critique

Epistemic Rigor

SIPRI’s rigorous quantitative datasets enable global comparability but risk underreporting covert or non-state arms flows (SIPRI, 2025).

Normative Framing

The institute adopts a state-centric, arms-control-oriented understanding of peace, which may under-emphasize social, religious, and identity dimensions of conflict.

Bias & Positionality

As a Western-based institution receiving public funding, SIPRI’s epistemic position aligns with liberal internationalist frameworks.

Policy Relevance vs Academic Depth

While SIPRI excels in timely policy analysis, it lacks grassroots-level fieldwork and qualitative perspectives essential for studying Muslim-majority contexts.

10. Controversies & Criticisms

No major public controversies or ethical scandals are documented. However, scholars have noted:

limited inclusion of local voices in conflict regions

structural bias toward state-centered security paradigms

partial transparency in donor disclosures

11. Comparative Positioning

SIPRI is often compared with:

PRIO (more qualitative, identity-focused, academically oriented)

GCSP (more practitioner-oriented, diplomacy-focused)

SIPRI stands out for its large databases, transparency of methods, and global influence.

12. Recommendations

For researchers:

Use SIPRI data as a quantitative baseline; complement with qualitative research.

For policymakers:

Note that SIPRI offers macro-level analysis; localized policy design requires local data.

For SIPRI:

Improve donor transparency

Expand partnerships with MENA civil society and scholars

Incorporate more qualitative and social research

References