Niklas Swanström is the Director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy, and one of its co-founders. He is a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). His main areas of expertise are regional cooperation; Chinese foreign policy and security in Northeast Asia; the Belt and Road Initiative, traditional and non-traditional security threats and its effect on regional and national security as well as negotiations. Niklas Swanström has authored, co-authored or edited a number of books, including: Eurasia’s ascent in Energy and Geopolitics, Sino-Jap¬anese Relations: The Need for Conflict Prevention and Management, Trans-national Crime: A security Threat?, Regional Cooperation and Conflict Management: Lessons from the Pacific Rim and Foreign Devils, Dictatorship or Institutional Control: China’s foreign policy towards Southeast Asia.