Researcher
Morten Skumsrud Andersen
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Morten S. Andersen is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Research group on Global order and Diplomacy. In addition to a focus on theoretical and methodological aspects of International Relations, his research concerns how relations of power and dominance between states have evolved and been legitimated over time. In this, he focuses particularly on hierarchy and empires and on international conceptual history.
Andersen is currently taking part in the project A Conceptual History of International Relations (CHOIR). He is also applying these research topics to an analysis of Colombian foreign policy and global order for the projects Undermining Hegemony and Evaluating Power Political Repertoires (EPOS), and to foreign acquisitions and investments for the project Consequences of Investments for National Security (COINS).
In 2016, Andersen earned his PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The dissertation is entitled “A Genealogy of the Balance of Power” and is a history of how this concept starts off as a way of preserving a supposed European commonwealth, but then becomes a notion that makes possible the denial of the existence of any such thing as “international society” in favour of a state-centric vision of international affairs. He here shows how that confusing origin and subsequent history defines the parameters of contemporary debates about “the balance of power” in International Relations.
Expertise
Education
2016 PhD, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Title of PhD thesis: A genealogy of the balance of power.
2008 MSc International Relations; London School of Economics
2006 Bachelor in international politics, University of Oslo/Universidad Externado de Colombia
2003 Latin American studies, Universidad de Costa Rica
Work Experience
2022- Head of the Research Group on Global Order and Diplomacy, NUPI
2008- Research fellow/Doctotal Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow, NUPI
Aktivitet
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Government allocates NOK 45 million to Geopolitics Research Centre led by NUPI
Norwegian Foreign Policy Conference 2023: Response – Norwegian foreign policy for a new era
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NUPI have the pleasure of inviting you to the Norwegian Foreign Policy Conference 2023, 21 March at Sentralen, Oslo.
The unsolicited rocket: a story of science, technology, and future wars
This article investigates the puzzling case of the unsolicited rocket: a Norwegian research establishment successfully developed a weapon system that no one wanted or had asked for that was later widely adopted. We argue that the ‘Terne’ weapon existed not because it was needed based on rational calculations about efficiency, but because of the narratives, coalitions, and competitive dynamics that surrounded it and made it useful. Conventionally, war and technology are often considered distinct ‘things’ with immutable essences, used as variables to explain other phenomena, rather than being examined on their own terms. In this case, we focus empirically on the configuration of sociotechnical imaginaries, and the capacities for action that arise out of it. In foregrounding sociotechnical systems, this is not a case of the ‘militarization’ of civilian society and research in peacetime. Rather, agency lay in competitive networks of narratives and coalitions between technologies, individuals, professions, technological communities, military organizations, and funding bodies, together shaping how ideas and technologies become authoritative and dominant.
Research group for Global Order and Diplomacy
Research group for Global Order and Diplomacy
Mekanismer for screening av utenlandske investeringer. Oversikt over et utvalg land
Etter tusenårsskiftet har åpne økonomier i økende takt satt i gang prosesser for å vurdere risikoen av utenlandsinvesteringer. Bakgrunnen for dette er økende grad av investeringer fra mindre transparente økonomier, frykt for svekket konkurranse blant internasjonale aktører, samt teknologiske endringer som kan gjøre stater mer utsatte. Dette har blant annet fått EU til å vedta en regulering som etablerer et rammeverk for screeningmekanismer (Regulation (EU) 2019/452). Utviklingen de seneste årene - og særlig i løpet av COVID-19 pandemien - er at slike mekanismer ekspanderer, blir mer detaljerte og permanente, og omfatter større deler av økonomien, med lavere terskelkriterier og dermed et økende antall transaksjoner som screenes.
Norsk eierskapskontroll kan avskrekke utenlandske investorer
Som et relativt lite og åpent land mottar Norge mange utenlandske investeringer. Noen av disse kan skape sikkerhetsutfordinger. «Vi anser dette som en avtale om salg mellom to kommersielle aktører, noe departementet ikke skal eller bør blande seg i», uttalte Næringsdepartementet om at et russisk selskap ville kjøpe den norske bedriften Bergen Engines. Forsvarsdepartementet sa først at sikkerhetsloven ikke var gjeldende, men så snudde de. Nå jobber flere departementer med saken. Dette viser hvor krevende det er å balansere sikkerhetsinteresser og gevinstene av en åpen økonomi.
The Nordic shift: China’s uphill battle for public approval in northern Europe
A recent survey shows that even the champions of free trade in Europe’s high north are reassessing their approach to Chinese investment.