Researcher
Rolf Tamnes
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Professor Rolf Tamnes is a member of NUPI’s Research Group on Security and Defence.
Tamnes holds a dr.philos (PhD) from 1991 and a cand.philol. (MA) in 1978, both from the University of Oslo. He served as a research fellow and later as a professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies/Norwegian Defence University College 1981–2021, was the director of the institute 1996–2012 and an adjunct professor at the University of Oslo 1995–2009.
Tamnes has been a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, both in Washington, DC, and at St Antony’s College in Oxford. He was a member of the Government Defence Review Committee 1999–2000 and the Parliament Oversight Committee on Intelligence and Security. 2001–2003.
He chaired the Expert Commission on Norwegian Security and Defence Policy in 2014–2015, served as a member in the Afghanistan Inquiry Committee in 2015–2016, and is a member of the Norwegian Defence Commission 2022–2023. Tamnes is a member of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and The Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences.
See full overview of Tamnes' publications prior to joining NUPI in CRIStin.
Expertise
Education
2012 Executive Education, Harvard Kennedy School
1991 Dr. philos, University of Oslo
1978 Cand. philos, University of Oslo
Work experience
2021- Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)
2014 Research Fellow, St Antony's College, Oxford
1996-2012 Director, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS)
1995-2009 Adjunct Professor, University of Oslo
2008-2012 Head of research programme Geopolitics in the High North
2006 Visiting Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies
2015-2006 Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center
1981-2021 Research fellow/Professor, Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS)
Aktivitet
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Is America turning its back on Europe?
Recent events, such as the ill-prepared evacuation from Afghanistan and the secret negotiation over Australian submarines at the expense of France...
The defence of northern Europe: new opportunities, significant challenges
With Finland and Sweden joining NATO, the Nordics will be united for the first time in a military alliance encompassing not only northern Europe but also the broader transatlantic region. It will eventually fortify northern European security, but several obstacles must be overcome first. NATO has done a formidable job since 2014 in updating its defence plans, cumulating in the Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA) family of plans approved in Vilnius 2023. Now Finland and Sweden need to be incorporated into these plans. A more challenging task is to implement NATO's New Force Model which is tremendously ambitious. Finland and Sweden's contributions will be important, but new investments must be made. NATO's Command Structure is yet to be fully reformed and fitted to the DDA. Joint Force Command Norfolk must urgently be staffed, without undue politicization in NATO. Nordic defence buildup can draw on regional cooperation in particular in five areas: in strengthening the area's command design through functional double-hatted headquarters; developing close air power cooperation through e.g. a Combined Joint Air Operations Centre; strengthening total defence cooperation across borders and expanding logistical infrastructure; establishing joint intelligence task forces; and joint training and exercises. The contributions of the United States and United Kingdom are indispensable when it comes to upholding the alliance's guarantee in northern Europe. The recent signing of Defense Cooperation Agreements between the US and the Nordics reinforces this—together with an increased presence of air and naval assets in the region. The same applies to the UK and the Joint Expeditionary Force which now has shifted its focus towards northern Europe. This engagement is a crucial addition to Nordic and NATO plans and activities in a period when growth in Nordic defence structures is occurring at a relatively slow pace. Only after the weaknesses and hurdles are addressed will the deterrence and defence of the region attain a fully credible level.
Transatlantic Security – Challenges and Opportunities
In this project NUPI analyzes developments in transatlantic security policy together with researchers from CSIS in the United States and RUSI in the United Kingdom. The aim of the project is to contri...
NUPI seminar about NATO and nordic security
Den norske Atlanterhavskomité: Spranget inn i fremtiden
Europe is at war. Putin's attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022 marks a turning point in European security. The war is also a preliminary climax in Russian revisionism, which dates back to 1990 and became more marked from 2007 and 2014. Some saw the war coming. From October 2021, insightful analysts and actors in intelligence and decision-making circles in the United States, NATO Belgium and some circles in Norway became increasingly confident that war was on the way. The inner circles had access to very good intelligence. People in positions with deep insight into Russian history watched with growing concern as Russia's bloodthirsty imperial tradition resurfaced, brutal and unadorned - this unpleasant habit of Romanovs and communists to devour neighbors. People in positions with broad knowledge of both literature and governance saw that the authoritarian Russian regime moved in a totalitarian direction and isolated itself, something we recognize from other totalitarian regimes. Experts in the public sphere did not see war as likely, with some exceptions. It was not rational, sort of. Nor had they imagined that the Soviet empire would fall apart. We see what we have seen before: That experts are best at explaining in retrospect why things went the way they did. And that they blame the politicians for not reacting in time. No one knows how long the war will last and how long Putin's Russia will remain a pariah. It is noted that a number of European leaders are working to create peace, several of them in such a way that they themselves can shine. Here we will look beyond the war itself and have a special eye on traditional power and interest politics: What are the long-term challenges and threats of significance to Norway? How should we organize our security policy and our defense? This is a time of great challenges, but also many opportunities. Crises create opportunities. There is an opportunity to make Norway better equipped to handle major changes in geopolitics and technology. We will dwell on the surroundings, especially Russia and the north. We will discuss the Nordic region in NATO as a security policy project. We will discuss the Armed Forces' design, especially the ability to think consistently from thought to action. And we will finally present five bold postulates, which transcend conventional thinking, about what Norway will be able to prioritize in the years ahead.
Norway and Great Power Politics – Geopolitics, Technology and Climate (NISP)
Our times are shaped by developments in geopolitical power dynamics, fast-paced technological development and climate change. In this research program NUPI analyses how these developments change the s...