Neil

As someone who loves Uppsala University (I was even selected as alumni of the year in 2016), I am so proud of its students for confronting former German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock for her undeniable complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It is a disgrace that she was asked to deliver the Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture in the first place. Hammarskjöld must be rolling in his grave. But it is a sign of how far Sweden - and its institutions - have veered off its old path of supporting international law, peace and multilateralism. And as it has abandoned the very values that earned Sweden the soft power it still partially enjoys today, Sweden has become an increasingly irrelevant player on the international stage. For instance, it's been almost two months since the Swedish elections, and the country still doesn't have a new government in place. Yet, no one on the international stage seems to have taken note, let alone cared about Sweden's political chaos. Sweden used to be a moral superpower that punched way above its weight. Now, no one even notices it. These students in Uppsala, however, give me hope for Sweden. PS. Baerbock defended and legitimized Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in Gaza, and she ensured that Germany’s military support for Israel's genocide continued.