Scandinavian Studies Commons^™

Ethics Under Siege: The Conflict In Tigray Through The Lens Of Just War Theory, Daniela Widya Purba

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

This research article explains the ethical principles of the conflict in Tigray based on the Just War Theory. By using the descriptive qualitative methodology, this research article draws data from secondary sources which includes; academic journals, news reports, as well as international legal instruments to analyze the moral trajectory of the conflict. This research begins with jus ad bellum, to assess Ethiopia’s government justification in declaring conflict within Tigray. While the government fulfilled the criteria of just cause and legitimate authority, the question stands on the ambiguous political intentions and the failure to enact peaceful alternatives before resulting in waging …

Presidential Visits As Foreign Policy Instruments: U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy In Trump’S Second Term, Atar Thaung Htet

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Through an analysis of President Donald Trump's October 2025 travel to Asia, this study investigates the consequences of U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy under his second-term diplomacy. The paper examines three significant diplomatic encounters—the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, bilateral meetings in Japan, and the APEC Summit in South Korea—using a qualitative case study methodology based on role theory and foreign policy analysis. The results show that alliance-centered security cooperation, strategic balancing toward China, and selective economic engagement were U.S. Indo-Pacific goals. Through extremely transactional and bilateralized relations, presidential diplomacy allowed the United States to fulfill a number of foreign policy responsibilities, such …

From Viðkenning To Valarindi: The Enigma Of Goldberry And The River-Woman, Derek Simon

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

THIS IS A TWO-PART ARTICLE. IN ORDER TO READ OR DOWNLOAD THE OTHER PART, FOLLOW THE LINK AT THE END OF THIS ABSTRACT.

Building upon the previous examination of the eddic and skaldic contours of Goldberry’s River kenning names, this reading of Goldberry’s enigma focuses on the mythological referents of her kinship relations and their narrative consistency in the legendarium.  Tending to the intrinsic connection between “[t]he incarnate mind, the tongue, and the tale” (Tolkien, On Fairy Stories, 41), I contend that the poetics of kenning diction sustain if not demand a reading of the River-woman references mythologically through …

Literature Review: Crowdfunding And Political Fundraising, Saiful Ahmad, Palupi Lindiasari Samputra

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Crowdfunding is an effort to raise relatively small amounts of money involving many individuals to support a specific project. Typically, crowdfunding is conducted online through fundraising platforms. The aim of this paper is to identify and analyse the utilisation of crowdfunding in fundraising activities that are related to or have political goals carried out by certain organisations or political groups. The method used in this paper is qualitative in the form of narrative analysis carried out through in-depth reading of several scientific literatures that discuss political fundraising through crowdfunding. The sources of scientific literature collection were obtained through the Google …

Implementation Of Zero Trust Architecture On Local Server Management In Educational Institutions, Joko Purwanto, Safar Dwi Kurniawan

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Educational institutions are facing increasingly complex cyber threats, particularly as they continue to rely on on-premises servers with limited cybersecurity resources. Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) offers a security model that rejects implicit trust and requires strict verification of each access request. This study aims to examine the applicability of ZTA in managing local servers within educational institutions through a qualitative literature review approach. Relevant literature from 2014 to 2025 was analyzed using thematic synthesis to identify recurring concepts, strategies, and gaps. The results show that ZTA, when integrated with Identity and Access Management (IAM), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), …

“Pride And Despair”: Denethor’S Struggles Against His Self-Woven Death, Ali Mirzabayati

Journal of Tolkien Research

This paper examines Denethor, Steward of Gondor, as a central figure illustrating the interplay of pride, fear, and mortality in The Lord of the Rings. It analyzes how his Númenórean heritage, grief over the loss of his sons, and obsession with control shape his decisions, leading to passivity, mistrust, and self-destruction. Drawing on Northern literary traditions, including the Danes’ prayers to the Gastbona in Beowulf and Boethian reflections on pride and despair, the study situates Denethor’s downfall within a broader cultural and philosophical context. By exploring how his fear of death undermines judgment and heroic potential, the paper highlights …

Japan’S Military Transformation In Abe Era: A Revolution Or Something Else?, Ganesh Aji Wicaksono, Tangguh Chairil

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

After the World War II, Japan has been adopting a pacifist Constitution and established the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) for narrow self-defense operations. The JSDF are restricted from having offensive military weapons. However, Japan’s pacifism and restrained security policy have been evolving recently, especially during the term of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2012-2020). The latest example is Japan’s plan to enable forward defense and counterstrike. This paper explores the transformation of Japan’s military through the revolution of military affairs (RMA) concept. The findings suggest evolutionary transformation of Japan’s military rather than revolutionary. The factors explored include international and domestic factors. …

Unveiling The Shadows: Exploring The Roles Of The Dark Web And Encrypted Messaging Apps In Facilitating Online Terrorist Networks, Eziho Promise Ogele

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

The paper examines the pivotal roles of the Dark Web and encrypted messaging apps in enabling online terrorist networks. These platforms have become essential tools for extremist groups, empowering them to communicate, coordinate, and share intelligence securely. The Dark Web, a hidden portion of the internet, provides a secure conduit for terrorist organizations to emerge, operate, and coordinate activities anonymously. This digital haven enables terrorists to share resources, plan operations, and execute attacks as part of their secret operations strategy. Encrypted messaging apps, such as Telegram and WhatsApp, offer an additional layer of security, allowing terrorists to send messages anonymously …

Convergence Of Indonesia-South Korea Green Economy Strategy: A Case Study Of Hyundai Motor Group's Investment In The Ev Industry, Darynaufal Mulyaman, Dwi Agustina, Rudolf Davier Figo, Gabriel Alexander Mahameru Sipahutar, Abdullah Akbar Rafsanjani

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Hyundai Motor Group's investment in the electric vehicle (EV) industry in Indonesia reflects the convergence of green economy strategies between Indonesia and South Korea. The study aims to analyze the contribution of Hyundai investment in the development of the local EV ecosystem, including technology transfer, supporting infrastructure, and its impact on the bilateral relationship between the two countries. The research method used is a qualitative study with a case study approach. The results show that Hyundai Motor Group's investment supports Indonesia's green economy policy, despite challenges related to dependence on natural resources and infrastructure. This research contributes to academics and …

Repositioning North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato): The New Security Dilemma On Trans–Atlantic Relations Amid Shifting Global Geopolitics, Daniel C. George, Indra Alverdian

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

The shifting global geopolitics have led to a new security dilemma in Europe, especially in trans–Atlantic relations. NATO as the vanguard of the trans–Atlantic defense pact is faced with transitional conditions of non-conventional threats that return to conventional threats. Due to the shift in the new global order, these threats require a repositioning for NATO to counter the new security dilemma amidst shifting global geopolitics. By referring to the three asserted pillars–the return of conventional warfare on the European continent; a more assertive Russia in the European continent under Vladimir Putin; and the geopolitical of China's rise impacted trans–-Atlantic …

The History And Manifestations Of The Metaverse In Contemporary Literature, Marlon Semuel Contantin Kansil, Wanting Sun

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

The metaverse, an interactive and immersive virtual world, has emerged as a critical theme in contemporary literature, significantly impacting narratives and character development. This paper explores the history and literary manifestations of the metaverse, investigating its influence on identity, space, and social interactions. We find that the metaverse supports flexible and individualistic identities, reshaping how characters and readers understand themselves. The digital space of the metaverse provides a dynamic setting for moral and emotional conflicts, enriching the literary aesthetics of space. Furthermore, literature plays a crucial role in both shaping and reflecting the concept of the metaverse, employing symbolism and …

Antillia, Kelsie Ogden

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

History, Mythology, and Fantasy are all considered to hold different ideas surrounding truth. More often than not, it is harder to draw this line than one might think. Through this thesis, an argument is made surrounding the legendary island Antillia and where this mythical island falls into more categories than one. Through the carefully crafted journal writings of the Viking, Ragnar, and the wondrous diary entries of Medieval widow, Ivette, the search for this island comes to a head. What waits upon this island, however, is a cure to the very essence of these two characters and others like them– …

Nato And The Swedish Churches: Dealing With Defence Policy In The Midst Of A European Crisis, Erik Sidenvall

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Excerpt: "Just like the rest of the population, Swedish Christians remain fundamentally divided in their opinions about the best way to arrange Sweden’s relationship to NATO. But the responses on the part of the churches also seem to hark back to bygone ages. National defense and foreign policy remain, in a country for centuries fundamentally shaped by Lutheran doctrine concerning the division between faith and politics, a matter for the political realm. A tense and potentially threatening geopolitical situation tends to reinforce long cherished views."

Handbook For The Deceased: Re-Evaluating Literature And Folklore In Icelandic Archaeology, Brenda Nicole Prehal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The rich medieval Icelandic literary record, comprised of mythology, sagas, poetry, law codes and post-medieval folklore, has provided invaluable source material for previous generations of scholars attempting to reconstruct a pagan Scandinavian Viking Age worldview. In modern Icelandic archaeology, however, the Icelandic literary record, apart from official documents such as censuses, has not been considered a viable source for interpretation since the early 20th century. Although the Icelandic corpus is problematic in several ways, it is a source that should be used in Icelandic archaeological interpretation, if used properly with source criticism.

This dissertation aims to advance Icelandic archaeological theory …

Landscape Theology: Exploring The Outfields Of The Telemarkian Dream Song, Thomas Arentzen

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

The article explores the Norwegian ‘national ballad’ Draumkvæde (the Dream Song) in Maren Ramskeid’s version. This work has traditionally been interpreted as a folklore adaptation of medieval visionary literature such as the Vision of Tundale, related to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. The ballad, however, lacks demons and devils and infernal torture – it is even almost completely devoid of human beings. Instead it tells of a corporeal encounter with an imagined natural landscape. This dreamscape of the song is intimately intertwined with the local terrain of the singer. Maren Ramskeid engaged her own landscape in Telemark, the …

Factors Supporting Turkey’S Policy To Purchase Russian S-400 Anti-Air Strike Defense Units, Chendika Yonanda, Maryam Jamila, Zulkifli Harza, Ilman Syarif Masri

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

Turkey is a member of the NATO military alliance since 1952, as a member of NATO, cooperation between Turkey and Russia invites counterparts from other NATO alliance countries. But even with criticism, Turkey continues purchasing S-400 from Russia . Therefore, this study aims to analyze the factors that support Turkey's policy on purchasing S-400.This research is a descriptive research through internet-based literature.Turkey's policy in purchasing S-400 analyzed using the concepts of Arms, Alliances and Security Tradeoffs proposed by James D. Morrow. James stated that there are three factors that influence the state to conduct arming; economic & military technological factors, …

Gregerson, Uggla, And Wyllers' "Reformation Theology For A Post-Secular Age: Logstrup, Prenta, Wingren, And The Future Of Scandinavian Creation Theology" (Book Review), Samuel S. Richardson

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Sigrid Undset's Sacramental Realism: The Body In Kristin Lavransdatter, Annesley Moore-Jumonville

Honors Projects

Though literary modernism has been historically characterized as atheistic and anti-traditional, new critical voices are emerging that argue for the presence of the sacred in modernist texts. This paper joins those voices by proposing, along with the reexamination of the sacred in nonreligious writers like Woolf and Joyce, a reexamination of specifically religious work and on its own terms. The modern Catholic novel, in particular, with its focus on the eternal significance of humanity, deserves this attention. The paper offers Sigrid Undset’s 1920, Nobel Prize wining, Catholic trilogy, Kristin Lavransdatter, as a significant (and unjustly overlooked) text of the period, …

Dvd Study Guide For "God’S Glory, Neighbor’S Good: The Story Of Pietism", Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This study guide was written by Mark Safstrom and Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom to accompany the documentary film, "God’s Glory, Neighbor’s Good: The Story of Pietism" (2017). Pietisten Inc. is the publisher and Vision Video is the distributor for this DVD. This study guide is intended as a resource for teachers and pastors to facilitate post-viewing discussion of a 75-minute overview of the history of Pietism. This episode is divided into three main chapters, which have brief summaries. The questions for these chapters have been further divided into smaller sections, to allow flexibility for viewing in shorter installments and allow greater time …

Silliness And Stillness: A History Of Covenant Point Bible Camp In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

"Silliness and Stillness" tells the history of Covenant Point Bible Camp, located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Founded in 1926, it has primarily served the congregations of the Swedish Mission Covenant (now Evangelical Covenant Church), and represents the broader revival movements that produced that denomination in the nineteenth century. The story of this camp is also part of the history of the Christian camping movement that developed throughout the twentieth century in the United States and Canada. In addition to being an anniversary book for the particular community that calls the camp "home," it also presents the theological background …

Muslimska Församlingar Och Föreningar I Malmö Och Lund – En Ögonblicksbild, Leif Stenberg, Rickard Lagervall

Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Hooked On The Right: Explaining The Electoral Success Of The Sweden Democrats, Fabian N. Sivnert

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Why do radical right parties achieve electoral success? Although radical right parties are far from a new phenomenon in modern politics, it nonetheless remains difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons behind their electoral success. Therefore, to provide greater insight into the success of radical right parties this study investigates the Sweden Democrats, a radical right party in Sweden, and their recent electoral success. According to the literature on the radical right, there are two distinct hypotheses that emerge to explain radical right parties’ electoral success. One (the “emphasis” hypothesis) argues for continued, and consistent emphasis on the signature ideological issue, …

Covenanters Reading Scripture Through History, Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This 12-page pamphlet was commissioned by the Evangelical Covenant Church as supplemental historical material to accompany a denomination-wide biblical literacy initiative called the "Community Bible Experience" in 2016. Four theologians and historians were asked to collaborated in writing; Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom (North Park Theological Seminary), Christopher Gehrz (Bethel University), Hauna Ondrey (North Park Theological Seminary), and Mark Safstrom (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). The purpose was to invite Covenant Church members to engage with the biblical reading practices as demonstrated through vignettes in the history of the Evangelical Covenant Church (1885–present), as well as its roots within the Protestant Reformation and …

Der Skandinavische Horrorfilm. Kultur- Und Ästhetikgeschichtliche Perspektiven (The Scandinavian Horror Film. Cultural Historical And Aesthetical Historical Perspectives), Christiane Königstedt

Journal of Religion & Film

In this book review I discuss a recently published anthology on "The Scandinavian Horror film". The authors are well aware that the existence of this genre is not to be taken for granted, and instead ponder films by directors ranging from Carl T. Dreyer, Ingmar Bergman to Lars von Trier and beyond, who in their work dealt with horrorful sensations in the past 120 years. Focussing especially on the sources and means of the horror sensation, the anthology investigates the characteristics and common features of the films in discussion, as well as their US-American adaptations.

Making Room For The Lost: Congregational Inclusivity In Waldenström’S Squire Adamsson, Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

In the Scandinavian Lutheran world in the 1800s, and especially among the Pietists, allegory was a mainstay in preaching and reading strategies. For Pietists interested in applying faith to their lives, there was an added subjective intensity to interpreting allegories. It is entirely natural that when debates arose in the 1860s over defining the nature and limits of the congregation, the revival preacher, Paul Peter Waldenström (1838-1917) resorted to writing an allegory. The result was one of the most widely read novels in nineteenth-century Sweden. Waldenström’s novel, Squire Adamsson: Or Where Do You Live?, initially appeared in late 1862 …

Squire Adamsson: Or, Where Do You Live? An Allegorical Tale From The Swedish Awakening, By Paul Peter Waldenström, Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

It is now over 150 years since Squire Adamsson appeared in bookstores and helped to launch its author, P.P. Waldenström, to prominence within the religious revivals that were then sweeping across Scandinavia. The themes of the novel touched on many aspects of Christian life and its challenges, but particularly drew from the theology of one group of dissenters in the Lutheran state church, the so-called “new evangelical” Pietists surrounding Carl Olof Rosenius (1816-1868). There are a variety of themes that can be found in this text, but perhaps none both so provocative and poignant as the unique presentation of congregational …

Babette's Feast And The Goodness Of God, Thomas J. Curry

Journal of Religion & Film

This article attempts to answer the preeminent question Babette’s Feast invites viewers to consider: Why does Babette choose to expend everything she has to make her feast? Of the critical studies made of the film, few have considered analytically crucial the catastrophic backstory of Babette, the violence of which is implied and offscreen. Appreciation of the singularity of Babette’s own personhood and the darker aspects of her experience, and not only how she might act as a figure of Christ, are key to understanding the motivating force behind her meal and its transformative effect: That through the feast Babette lays …

Defining Lutheranism From The Margins: Paul Peter Waldenström On Being A ‘Good Lutheran’ In America, Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

The histories of church institutions may often be written by the orthodox “winners,” but dissenters, protesters, and even heretics undoubtedly play important roles in giving direction to the parent institution’s evolving identity. Such voices from the margins often set the agenda at crucial moments, prompting both the dissenters and establishment to engage in a debate to define proper theology and practice. Once a dissenting group has formally separated from a parent body, there is a risk that teleological hindsight will obscure the nature of these conversations, including the reasons for the ultimate separation and the intentions of both the dissenters …

A Learning Missional Church: Reflections From Young Missiologists, Beate Fagerli, Knud Jorgenson, Kari Storstein Haug, Rolv Olsen, Knut Tveitereid

Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series

This book is compiled by contributions from young missiologists from different parts of the world. It is written from the perspective of youth to be a fresh breath of air into more traditional mission thinking and mission paradigms. These reflections are valuable because of the content; they deal with relevant issues, they depict the church as a 'learning organization' cross-culturally; and they raise signs of youthful willingness to challenge and change.

Facing The Future Together: A Look At The Reasons For And The Implications Of The Merger Of The Covenant, Methodist, And Baptist Churches In Sweden, Mark Safstrom

Scandinavian Studies: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This article was written to give context to the merger of three denominations in Sweden. In 2012, the Swedish Mission Covenant, Baptist, and Methodist churches merged and formed Equmenia, or The Uniting Church in Sweden. This article appeared in The Covenant Companion, the denominational magazine of the Evangelical Covenant Church (founded 1885), as the Swedish Mission Covenant is its sister denomination (founded 1878). The article explains the context of secularization in Scandinavia, the decline of denominational affiliation, and the rise of ecumenism that influenced the merger, as well as the shared histories of the three denominations that provided …