Recent writing

ARTICLES:

Interview with France’s former prime minister Dominique de Villepin – The Guardian

Are we really living in a monoculture? – Foreign Policy

Sweden’s national myths – European Review of Books

A nationalist assault on the Swedish model – The Guardian

How Paris reinvented itself – Washington Post

Mjuk makt i en hård tid [Swedish] – Dagens Nyheter

Solidarity in an individualist era – The Guardian

The Art of Scaling Perfection [Feature on Din Tai Fung] – New York Magazine

Reagan’s Boardroom Jacobins – Boston Review

On the New York art scene– Washington Post

The Far Right is chasing women out of politics – The Guardian

Sweden is ready for Nato, but it’s not ready for war– The Guardian

Tesla vs. the Swedish model– The Guardian

Interview with Maria Ressa – Nieman Reports

The alchemy of newness – Respons

The empty nostalgia of Michel Houellebecq– Boston Review

Intervju med Johan Rockström i Potsdam [Swedish]– Vi

Why conservative men are obsessed with Greta Thunberg – New Republic

Des suprématistes blancs américains veulent s’allier à l’extrême droite européenne– Slate [2014]

BOOKS:

Rules of Attraction: Why Soft Power Matters in Hard Times (forthcoming – Wildfire/Hachette, 2026)

Mjuk makt – Kultur och propaganda i den nya världsordningen (Volante, 2025)

The White Storm: How Racism Poisoned American Democracy(Prometheus/S&S, 2025)

Imorgon är jag långt härifrån – ett avskedsbrev till USA (Natur & Kultur, 2024)

Den vita stormen – Rasismens historia och USA:s fall (Natur & Kultur, 2022)

Internet är trasigt – Silicon Valley och demokratins kris (Natur & Kultur, 2018) AUGUST PRIZE FINALIST

Hotet mot demokratin – Högerpopulismens återkomst (Historiska Media, 2018)

Den amerikanska högern – Republikanernas revolution och USA:s framtid (Natur & Kultur, 2012) AUGUST PRIZE FINALIST

Det amerikanska löftet – Barack Obamas väg till Vita huset (Atlas, 2009) JOHAN HANSSON PRIZE WINNER

Praise for the Swedish edition of “Rules of Attraction: Why Soft Power Matters in Hard Times”

“A mesmerizing and informative defense of globalization and diversity.” – Ulrika Knutsson, Dagens Nyheter

“A very exciting book” – Morten Kjaerom, Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute

“Gelin investigates the significance of soft power, particularly culture, in geopolitics. With a curious and critical eye, he recounts how the Gulf states transform oil revenue into soccer teams, museums, and art biennials, and how China spends billions on propaganda.” - Aftonbladet

“He skillfully provides the reader with keys to understanding the game behind state-funded export of Korean culture and depicts in a gripping manner how the art world becomes a pawn in a game where Qatar and Saudi Arabia pump money into successful attempts to wash away associations with dictatorship and repression.” - GP

“A striking example of how soft power affects security policy … His message is particularly relevant in our time, when greater focus must be placed on national security, and also on the importance of culture in that context.” – Svenska Dagbladet