NATO enlargement: Sweden and Finland
NATO has invited Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance. This paper looks at the process for joining NATO and the expansion of the Alliance since its creation in 1949, and how Russia views NATO enlargement.

Interest in space as a military domain is increasing. What are the leading space powers doing, and what role does the UK see for itself going forward?
The militarisation of space (608 KB , PDF)
Space has been used for military purposes for decades, albeit limited to the deployment of non-offensive military systems such as communications, navigation, imaging and surveillance satellites. Several countries, including the UK have developed a comprehensive space-based military architecture to facilitate military activities on the ground.
However, space is becoming an increasingly contested environment. The last few years has seen a proliferation in the number and type of actors operating in space, and a growing interdependence between the military, civil and commercial space sectors.
Protecting critical space-based assets, both civilian and military, has therefore become a priority. Space is also increasingly viewed as a military domain in its own right, as countries look to utilise space to enhance their own military capabilities and security.
In the last few years there has been considerable investment by several states, most notably Russia and China, in offensive counterspace capabilities that potentially threaten the use of space by the UK and its allies. The US has responded by calling for a rapid increase in the development of counterspace capability and the adoption of more aggressive space policies and postures.
Combined with the lack of regulation and accepted international norms of responsible conduct in space, and little appetite to advance that agenda, this more overt behaviour among nations is fuelling fears of a new arms race.
This briefing paper examines how the militarisation of space is evolving into the weaponisation of space and what role the UK envisages for itself going forward. It does not address civilian or commercial space programmes or the synergy between them and the military sphere.
The UK’s civil space sector is examined in more detail in The UK Space Industry, House of Commons Library, April 2021.
The militarisation of space (608 KB , PDF)
NATO has invited Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance. This paper looks at the process for joining NATO and the expansion of the Alliance since its creation in 1949, and how Russia views NATO enlargement.
A briefing paper on the legal issues surrounding a Scottish independence referendum
A Migration and Economic Development partnership was agreed between the UK and Rwanda in April 2022. It allows the UK to send some people to Rwanda who would otherwise claim asylum in the UK. A judicial review to consider the lawfulness of the asylum arrangement is due to be heard in mid-July. This briefing provides an overview of the UK-Rwanda asylum arrangement, related legal issues and areas of controversy, and Parliament's role in scrutinising it.