New Debatt-article on Ukraine by TIEK's researchers

Pontus Braunerhjelm and Maryna Brychko have just published a new article at DN Debatt on the conflict in Ukraine and what Sweden can learn from their resilience.

"What we can learn from Ukraine's resilience" is the title of a new DN Debatt article that has just been published by two researchers at TIEK, Prof. Pontus Braunerhjelm and Asst. Prof. Maryna Brychko.

Ukraine’s response to Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 illustrates how resilience is built not only through military strength but also through civil society engagement, innovation, and flexible state policies. Despite limited defence capacity, Ukraine mobilised volunteers, entrepreneurs, and its tech sector to produce drones and other defence tools rapidly and at low cost, often using hobby components, 3D printing, and open-source solutions.

Ukraine has delegated, decentralised, and improved the incentive structure in its defence. The state delegated half of procurement directly to brigades, scrapped tariffs and certification rules, and raised profit margins for drone makers to encourage production.

New platforms for innovation are also being created. Initiatives like Brave1 connected defence tech companies with buyers, provided support, and integrated civilian engineers into defence production. Around 50,000 drone operators have been trained.

Volunteers, private initiatives, and donations were crucial in the early stages, making Ukraine’s defence ecosystem broad, flexible, and innovation-driven.

By contrast, Sweden’s defence remains dominated by slow, centralised procurement and large defence contractors, leaving little room for startups or volunteer contributions. Pontus and Maryna argue that Sweden should expand the state’s role as enabler, fostering defence innovation ecosystems; mobilise civil society and the tech startup sector as part of resilience-building; establish a Swedish equivalent of USA's DARPA to link universities, business, and defence in fast-moving technology development; and simplify procurement so smaller, innovative firms can participate.

Modern warfare requires adaptability, rapid innovation, and whole-of-society engagement, not just stockpiles or traditional defense giants. Sweden must learn from Ukraine and create structures and incentives that allow entrepreneurship and civil society to strengthen national resilience.

Click here External link, opens in new window. to read the original article (in Swedish) at Dagens Nyheter.