Ms. Anna Wieslander

Anna Wieslander concurrently serves as secretary general of the Swedish Defence Association, a non-political NGO which for more than 125 years has promoted knowledge on defence and security among the Swedish public. She is an experienced manager, moderator, and commentator who has published extensively. Her expertise covers security and defence policy, NATO and PfP, the transatlantic link, and defence industry issues.

Wieslander has a strong background from the public and private sector. From 2013 to 2016 she was deputy director at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, a leading think tank on foreign policy in Sweden, where she also headed the communications department. From 2003 to 2008 she held the position as head of Speaker’s Office at the Swedish Parliament. From 1996 to 2003 she held various positions at the Swedish Defence Ministry including: secretary of the Swedish Defence Commission; deputy director; and head of section responsible for NATO and Partnership for Peace, France, and Great Britain.

In 1995, she conducted the Government Offices Trainee Program. Wieslander has also held positions as international affairs director at Saab, communications director at Carlsberg Sweden (2011-12), and at the Swedish Postcode Lottery (2008-10), and as such been part of corporate top management. She started her career as a newspaper journalist in Sweden in 1987. She is a member of the board of Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), a Stockholm-based think tank with a focus on Central Asia and Asia.

She holds an IB exam from United World College of the American West (1987), a BA degree in journalism from Gothenburg University (1990), and a MA degree in political science from Lund University (1995). She is a PhD candidate in international relations at Lund University, and has pursued doctoral studies at University of California at Berkeley. She is a 2015 alumni of the Georgetown University Leadership Seminar.