Björn Brenner

Dr Björn Brenner is an international civil servant, naval officer, scholar and award-winning author based in Stockholm, Sweden. Dr Brenner’s books include GAZA UNDER HAMAS 2017/2021 and ISLAMIST GOVERNANCE HAMAS STYLE 2015.

Björn researches and advises on contemporary Middle Eastern affairs with a special focus on Syrian, Lebanese, Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and Iraqi politics. One focal point has been to closely follow the local political situation in the Gaza Strip and the tensions between the various actors there. Much of this research has taken place on location in the coastal territory.

In 2009, Björn studied at Damascus University and during the following years, 2010-2015, he conducted extensive field studies in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. By means of his participant observation approach, staying with families with varying political connections, he was able to interview both leaders and activists of several of the region’s more controversial political groups.

On a more general level, Björn’s research has dealt with issues connected with Islamism and democracy and to what extent these concepts could be regarded as compatible in practice. His doctoral thesis addresses the overarching question of how Islamists who have succeeded in reaching positions of political power have then come to govern in practice.

In 2015, Björn received his doctorate in Development Studies from the University of Gothenburg and started his first academic position as Chercheur associé at the Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo) in Amman, Jordan. His postdoctoral project focused on exploring Jordanian-Palestinian intersections of local customary dispute resolution methods, formal justice-making and domestic politics.

In 2016, on the completion of his postdoc in Amman, Björn was appointed Course Director of War studies analysis and Military strategy at the Swedish Defence University in Stockholm. In addition to being responsible for certain civilian courses at the university, this position also included directing parts of Sweden’s new academic programme for military officers’ training.

In 2017, Björn joined the United Nations to serve as the Principal Military Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Syria. In conjunction with being selected for this position, Björn was promoted to the rank of Commander (Navy). This followed on several previous international military postings as a commissioned naval officer, as well as diplomas from both Swedish and French universities, including École navale in Brest.

Björn served under two UN Special Envoys, Staffan de Mistura (2017-2019) and Geir Pedersen (2019-2021). During these years, Björn headed the envoy's ground analysis unit and was the First Reporting Officer to the Ceasefire Task Force of the International Syria Support Group ISSG, convening in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 2021, upon completion of his work on the Syria mediation team, Björn transitioned to the Hague and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), as a special advisor in the Director-General's office. This role included contributing with expertise from his years of fieldwork in the region, overseeing certain of the organisation's investigations and reporting.

Since 2023, Björn is based at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm, as Deputy Director (Kansliråd) in the ministry's Department for Middle East and North Africa Affairs (UD MENA). A member of the department's Levant Group, his current focus is Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Prior to entering international diplomacy, Björn was a frequently appearing expert commentator in radio, television and the press. He was a regular contributor to several English-speaking news networks, journals and newspapers, as well as, Swedish outlets TT, SVT, SR, SvD and DN.

Björn has a wide-ranging interest in the politics, religions and societies of the Middle East, which includes everything from violent extremism to more non-political phenomena such as regional popular music and dialectical differences in the Arabic language.

Björn is a keen sailor and guardian of marine traditions, serving as an elected member of the Royal Society for Naval Sciences, Kungl Örlogsmannasällskapet.