Aryo Makko

My research interests include the international history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with particular focus on Imperialism and the Cold War. I am currently finishing a book manuscript on how the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway participated in the New Imperialism between 1875 and 1914. In my next project Neutrality and the Kremlin: A Transnational History, which will commence in July 2017, I will be studying the relationships between Europe’s neutral countries and the Soviet Union during the latter part of the Cold War based on archival and other sources from at least six countries. Neutrality has been subject to intense public debate in various countries as a result of Russia’s foreign policy in recent years, not least in conjunction with the Ukrainian Crisis. The aim of the project is to deepen our knowledge on Neutral-Soviet relations and to offer historical expertise to current decision-makers through a detailed account of how their predecessors in neutral countries and in Moscow viewed and dealt with neutrality policies in the more recent past. I am also interested in migration, diaspora and nationalism among Middle Eastern minorities.