Professor Katarzyna Zysk from the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS) will be among the keynote speakers at Forsvarskonferansen – Nordic Defence and Security Conference 2026, where she will address the strategic forces rapidly reshaping European and transatlantic security.
Zysk is Professor of International Relations and Contemporary History at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS), part of the Norwegian Defence University College, and is widely recognised as one of Norway’s foremost experts on Russian security and defence policy.
She combines rigorous academic scholarship with sustained engagement at the highest levels of NATO and allied defence policy. Her research has focused on international security, defence, and strategic studies, in particular Russia’s military strategy, nuclear deterrence, Arctic security and emerging technologies and artificial intelligence in defence innovation.
Throughout her career, Zysk has held several senior leadership roles, including deputy director IFS and as acting dean of the Norwegian Defence University College. She has also been a visiting fellow at Stanford University, the University of Oxford, Sciences Po, and the US Naval War College.
Beyond academia, she serves as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the US Atlantic Council and has been a member of the Transatlantic Forum on Russia at the Center for New American Security and the Transatlantic Deterrence Dialogue Initiative. She has provided briefings and analysis to NATO, incliding NATO Military Committee, the Office of the US Secretary of Defence, the US National Intelligence Council, European parliaments and governments, and other institutions, including national intelligence and military communities on both sides of the Atlantic.
She has served as Red Team Russia in NATO strategic wargames and military exercises – a role that demands not only deep knowledge of Russian doctrine but the capacity to think adversarially under pressure.
At Forsvarskonferansen 2026, Professor Zysk will share her insights into current security trends, strategic developments, and the broader defence policy challenges shaping the Nordic region, Europe, and the transatlantic community
