Dr. Elisabeth Sköns

Born: 1950
Citizenship: Swedish
Position at SIPRI: Head of the Africa Security and Governance project
Subject expertise: Arms industry issues; arms industry data sources and methods; internationalization of arms production; offsets in the arms trade; military expenditure issues; military expenditure data sources and methods; military budgeting processes; security sector governance; security and development; external actors in African security; the role of civil society in African security; economics of peace and security
Education: PhD in Economics, University of the West of England
Languages: English, Swedish, German

Contact: Email; Phone: +46-8-655 97 35

Dr Elisabeth Sköns has a long experience as a researcher on military expenditure and arms industry issues. Until mid-2012, she was the director of the military expenditure and arms production programme at SIPRI. As such, she has published extensively on these issues for over 20 years, in particular for the SIPRI Yearbook. Since 2009, she has led a project on security and governance in Africa. During the period 2009-2012, this project included research and support for civil society organizations in five African countries. The main current focus is on external security-related activities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Current activities
  • External actors in African security
  • US military and security activities in sub-Saharan Africa
  • The role of civil society in peace and security issues in sub-Saharan Africa
  • Military expenditure issues in the United States
  • Offsets in the arms trade

Former positions
  • Director, SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, 1997-2012
  • Project Leader, SIPRI Arms Production Project, 1994-1997
  • Researcher, SIPRI Arms Transfer Project, 1991-1994
  • Researcher, Swedish Parliament, 1987-1991
Professional affiliations
  • Economists for Peace and Security Journal, Editorial Board Member
Recent publications
  • Sköns, E., ‘Der Boom der Rüstungsindustrie’, Wissenschaft und Frieden, no. 4, 2012.
  • Sköns, E. and Perlo-Freeman, S., The United States’ military spending and the 2011 budget crisis’, in SIPRI Yearbook 2012 (Oxford University Press, 2012).
  • Sköns, E., ‘The US defence industry after the cold war’, in A. Tan (ed.), The Global Arms Trade (Routledge: London and New York, 2010).
  • Dunne, P. and Sköns. E., ‘The military-industrial complex’, in A. Tan (ed.), The Global Arms Trade (Routledge: London and New York, 2010).
  • Perlo-Freeman, S., C. Perdomo, P. Stålenheim and E. Sköns, ‘Military expenditure’, in SIPRI Yearbook 2009 (Oxford University Press, 2009).
  • Sköns, E. and P. Dunne, ‘Economics of arms production’, in Lester Kurz (ed), Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, vol. 1. (Elsevier: Oxford, 2009).
  • Perlo-Freeman, S. and Sköns, E., ‘The private military services industry’, SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security, no 1, 2008.
  • Sköns, E., ‘l’industria militare e le sfide della globalizzazione’ [The military industry: the challenges of globalisation], in C. Bonaiuti and A. Lodovisi (eds), Annuario La Pira Armi e Disarmo [Yearbook on Arms and Disarmament], no. 3 (Jaca Books: Milano, 2008).
  • Sköns, E., ‘Analysing risks to human lives’, in SIPRI Yearbook 2007 (Oxford University Press, 2007).
  • Sköns,. E., ‘In search of a peace dividend’, in Statesman‘s Yearbook 2007: The Politics, Cultures and Economies of the World (Palgrave Macmillan: New York and Basingstoke, 2006).
  • Sköns, E., ‘The costs of armed conflict’, in Peace and Security: Expert Papers Series Five, International Task Force on Global Public Goods (Stockholm, 2005).
  • Sköns, E., ‘Omstruktureringen av vesteuropeisk forsvarsindustri: markedskrafternas logikk’ [Restructuring of the West European defence industry: the logic of market forces], in Matlary, J.H.  and O. Osterud (eds), Mot et Avnasjonalisert Forsvar? [Towards a Denationalized Defence?], (Abstrakt Forlag: Oslo, 2005).
  • Sköns, E., ‘Financing security in a global context’, in SIPRI Yearbook 2005 (Oxford University Press, 2005).