Molnbelupna himlar

For all the talk of polar-vortex destabilisation, the past weeks have instead brought one Atlantic low-pressure system after another, draping Scandinavia in dense clouds, and keeping temperatures well above the seasonal average. Today, however, the sky finally cleared. I woke to a breathtaking morning as I took my Hoka Torrents out for 15k along Kalmarsund before indulging in a sumptuous hotel breakfast at Hotel Witt. I would normally, of course, stay with my parents but with my dad down with the flu, I had to get a bit creative.

Departing Kalmar at 15:10 on SK196 – a route now back from the dead – I have about an hour at Arlanda before my connection north to Kiruna. Yesterday, Scandinavian Airlines informed me that I have been upgraded on the second flight of the day, a telling sign that the holiday travel season is in full swing. Hopefully, I will be able to pay Pontus a quick visit before I fly off into the polar night.

Last evening, I watched a long lecture by Sarah Paine on why Russia lost the Cold War, and it offered precisely the kind of macro-level perspective that I often miss in contemporary scholarship. Moving beyond the simplified “Ronnie did it” narrative, Paine emphasised the role of the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 in diffusing human-rights norms behind the Iron Curtain, the immense soft power of the United States, and how the absence of meaningful price signals ultimately rendered the Soviet economy ungovernable. As the cabin lights dim in preparation for landing at Arlanda, it is oddly reassuring to be reminded that – dark as the present may be – from tomorrow, the days will again begin to grow brighter.