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Researcher

Ole Jacob Sending

Research Professor, Head of Center for Geopolitics
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Contactinfo and files

ojs@nupi.no
+(47) 924 68 459
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Summary

Ole Jacob Sending is Research Professor in the Research group for global order and diplomacy at NUPI.

Sending does research on global governance, with a particular focus on the role of international and non-governmental organizations in peacebuilding, humanitarian relief, and development. His publications have appeared, inter alia, in International Studies Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, and International Theory.

Expertise

  • Development policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Peace operations
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Human rights
  • International organizations
  • United Nations

Education

2004 Dr. Polit., Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen

1998 Master of Science, Political Science. Department of Political Science, SUNY, Albany, New York

1997 Cand. Mag., University of Bergen, Norway. (Economics, Political Science, Sociology)

Work Experience

2023- Research Professor, NUPI

2012-2023 Research Director, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)

2008-2009 Visiting Scholar, Fulbright Scholarship, Dept. of Sociology, UC Berkeley

2008- Senior Researcher, NUPI

2008-2014 Adjunct Senior Researcher, Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen

2006-2008 Senior Adviser, Policy Analysis Unit, Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway

2003- Senior Researcher, NUPI

2002 Visiting Research Fellow, Stanford University (SCANCOR)

1999-2003 Research Fellow, NUPI, PhD Student, University of Bergen

Aktivitet

Publications
Publications
Report

The war in Ukraine and multilateralism as we know it

Multilateralism was in trouble long before Russia invaded Ukraine: Increased rivalry between China and Russia, on the one hand, and the US and its allies, on the other, has made the most important international decision making body – the UN Security Council –less capable than before of addressing core issues on its agenda. For sure, the Council has renewed mandates for existing peace operations, but have not been able to establish new ones to address on-going conflicts. With the war in Ukraine and the seeming solidification of closer ties between Russia and China, there is reason to expect that multilateral decision making will deteriorate further.

  • Europe
  • Conflict
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  • Europe
  • Conflict
Articles
New research
Articles
New research

Big EU project to NUPI

From March 2023 NUPI will lead a large EU-funded project on how the EU should navigate multinational cooperation in times of global uncertainty.
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
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Research project
2022 (Ongoing)

The pulling power of Paris: Unpacking the role of ‘pledge & review’ in climate governance (PullP)

Will the Paris Agreement deliver on its promise and will the international community be able to avoid dangerous climate change? This project analyses the role of the governance architecture of the Par...

  • Diplomacy
  • Climate
  • United Nations
  • Diplomacy
  • Climate
  • United Nations
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Norges klimaomdømme på Twitter

In this article we explore whether oil and gas industry negatively affects Norway’s climate reputation by analyzing tweets posted during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. To make our findings more reliable, we compare tweets about Norway with tweets about Sweden. The results of our study reveal that there is no significant difference in negative sentiment between tweets about Norway compared with tweets about Sweden. However, we find that tweets about the two states differ thematically. While dominant topics in tweets mentioning Sweden are about promotion of the green transition and climate activism, tweets about Norway are mostly about climate financing and the need to phase out fossil fuel production. Furthermore, negative tweets about Sweden are of a more general nature, similar to criticism of all countries not meeting their climate goals, while negative tweets about Norway are specific and related to fossil fuel industry.

  • Europe
  • The Nordic countries
  • Climate
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  • Europe
  • The Nordic countries
  • Climate
Forskningsprosjekt
2021 - 2025 (Ongoing)

Chinese Anger Diplomacy (ANGER)

Do liberal-democratic states yield to public criticism by China? ANGER approaches this question by focusing on China's use of "anger diplomacy" - public, vehement displays at the state ...

  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
  • Nationalism
  • Comparative methods
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
  • Nationalism
  • Comparative methods
Publications
Publications
Chapter

Afterword: International Organizations and Technologies of Statehood

The afterword discusses the contributions to the symposium by drawing links to cognate fields such as international relations, international law, and organisational studies. It reflects on the many insightful observations and arguments in the different contributions, and points to areas for future research, but also to areas where more extensive engagement with cognate fields may have been warranted.

  • Peace, crisis and conflict
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Global governance
  • Human rights
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  • Peace, crisis and conflict
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Global governance
  • Human rights
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Performing Statehood through Crises: Citizens, Strangers, Territory

This article applies the growing International Relations literature on state performance and performativity to the question of how practitioners categorize different kinds of crises. The aim is to add value to the crisis literature by paying more attention to how performances are staged for multiple audiences, how statehood is produced as a collective (as opposed to an individual) body, and how and why one and the same state actor performs statehood in different ways. Drawing on interviews and participant observation, we discuss how one state apparatus, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), performs statehood during different types of crisis. The MFA has institutionalized crisis management in three very different ways, depending on whether it defines the crisis as a security crisis, a humanitarian crisis, or a civilian crisis. Different crises have different audiences, are performed in different repertoires, and produce three different aspects of the state that we name, respectively, caretaking, do-gooding, and sovereignty. Bringing the performativity literature to the study of crises gives us a better understanding of the statecraft that goes into using crises as opportunities to make visible and strengthen the state as a presence in national and global social life. Conversely, our focus on the specificity of various state performances highlights how the performance literature stands to gain from differentiating more clearly between the straightforward performing of practices, on the one hand, and the performing of state identity by means of the same practices, on the other.

  • Peace, crisis and conflict
  • Humanitarian issues
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  • Peace, crisis and conflict
  • Humanitarian issues
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Why the Nordic states maintain differentiated foreign policies

Nordic governments frequently broadcast their ambition to do more together on the international stage. In this blog post, Kristin Haugevik and Ole Jacob Sending explain why we still shouldn’t expect to see any profound increase in joint Nordic foreign policy positions and actions – and especially not when it comes to relations with greater powers.

  • Diplomacy and foreign policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Regions
  • The Nordic countries
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  • Diplomacy and foreign policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Regions
  • The Nordic countries
Publications

EUs grønne giv – implikasjoner for norsk europapolitikk

EU lanserte mot slutten av 2019 European Green Deal. Dette er en klimastrategi for å nå målene i Parisavtalen, men også en økonomisk vekststrategi, og forventes å definere EUs sentrale prioriteringer i årene fremover. Hvordan vil dette påvirke Norge, og norsk europapolitikk? En ny NUPI-rapport, forsøker å gi svar. Norge er tett koblet til EU via EØS avtalen og en lang rekke andre avtaler, herunder Klimaavtalen som definerer rammene for norsk klimapolitikk frem mot 2030. Når EU endrer sine mål og sin virkemåte, så vil dette også påvirke Norge i stor grad. Noen sentrale observasjoner i rapporten er at: • Det er en spenning i Norge mellom energipolitikken i form av fortsatt olje- og gassproduksjon, på den ene siden, og ambisiøse klimamål, på den andre. EUs grønne giv løfter klimapolitikken til politikkens elitedivisjon og kan gjøre det mer krevende å håndtere denne spenningen. Tradisjonelle allierte i EU - som Sverige og Danmark - har f.eks et annet syn på gass som del av løsningen enn det Norge har. • Grønn Giv innebærer at EU utvikler nye regler med potensielt stor betydning for Norge, men det forvaltningsmessige oppsettet for vurdering og håndtering av nye EU regler i Norge er ikke tilpasset en slik økning i volumet på nye regler. • Grønn giv er "sektorovergripende" og trekker EU Kommisjonen i retning av større integrasjon på tvers av ulike saksfelt. Norsk forvaltning er imidlertid definert av et sektor-prinsipp. Dette innebærer en betydelig økning av behovet for koordinering på tvers av ulike departementer og etater i Norge. • Fordi Norge står utenfor EU, har Norge størst mulighet til å påvirke innretting på nye regler og tiltak tidlig i prosessen, gjennom deltakelse i ekspertgrupper i en forberedende fase. Tempoet og omfanget av nye regler som nå utarbeides gjør dette arbeidet krevende. • Grønn giv innebærer en serie med endringer som potensielt griper inn i eksisterende konfliktlinjer i norsk politikk knyttet til EØS og suverenitetsavståelse. • Det er behov for økt kunnskap og dialog mellom forvaltningen, næringslivet, akademia og sivilt samfunn om hvilke muligheter og utfordringer EUs grønne giv innebærer. Et "grønn giv forum" kan være nyttig for å sikre at ulike norske aktører utnytter de muligheter som ligger i EUs grønne giv. • Grønn giv viser at EØS avtalen har sine begrensninger som det sentrale tilkoblingspunktet til EU. En mer institusjonalisert dialog på øverste politiske nivå mellom Norge og EU vil kunne bidra til å bøte på disse utfordringene. Rapporten er finansiert av Utenriksdepartementet.

  • Diplomacy and foreign policy
  • Foreign policy
  • Regions
  • Europe
  • Natural resources and climate
  • Climate
  • Global governance
  • The EU
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  • Diplomacy and foreign policy
  • Foreign policy
  • Regions
  • Europe
  • Natural resources and climate
  • Climate
  • Global governance
  • The EU
Articles
Articles

Research group for Global Order and Diplomacy

In what ways are the structures and contents of world politics changing? How do global power dynamics influence states’ foreign policy – and vice versa? What characterizes Norway’s past and present role on the international arena?
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Global governance
  • Governance
  • International organizations
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