Publications
Self-defence Militias and State Sponsorship in Burkina Faso
Summary: Since 2015-16, Burkina Faso has been engulfed in an ongoing conflict with jihadist insurgent groups active across the Sahel in West Africa. As the conflict escalated, the use of armed militias in Burkina Faso became widespread and was actively sponsored by the State which led to concerns over the militias’ potential to perpetuate conflict. The main reasons are that self-defence militias in Burkina Faso are exacerbating mutual distrust, tension and violence among different communities, while the use and State sponsorship of militias are exposing the civilian population to reprisals from the insurgents who perceive them as a threat. The result is that the previous President, Roch Marc Kaboré, might have done more harm than good by creating self-defence militias under the legal framework of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDPs) adopted unanimously by Burkina Faso’s Parliament in January 2020.
Grenseløs kamp mot korona
A presentation of the international Covid-19 response cooperation, at the early stages of the pandemic. Part of NUPI's "Hvor hender det?" series.
Kinesisk digi-tek fra fri galopp til båndtvang
Op-ed on changing regulations for Chinese digital technology
Kina sikter mot toppen
A presentation of China's new Five-year plan. Part of NUPI's "Hvor hender det?" series.
The Ukraine war and the NATO responses in the Baltic and the High North regions
24. mars møttes NATOs regjeringssjefer i Brussel. for å diskutere krigen i Ukraina. Seniorforsker Karsten Friis snakker i denne podkasten, som er spilt inn et par dager før møtet, med NATO-general General Jörg Vollmer (Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum) og generalløytnant Yngve Odlo (sjef for Forsvarets operative hovedkvarter) om utfordringene Russland representerer i Baltikum og Nordområdene, og hvordan NATO og Norge best kan svare.
Digitalisering og internasjonal politikk
Hvilke sikkerhetspolitiske valg og dilemmaer representerer den nye digitale hverdagen for Norge og resten av verden? Kampen for å påvirke hvordan internett skal fungere er godt i gang. Utbyggingen av 5G-nettverk har blitt en global dragkamp der land presser hverandre til å velge bort bestemte leverandører, og private selskaper i den digitale sektoren får stadig større økonomisk og politisk makt. Internasjonale aktører som FN og NATO strever med å finne sin plass i det nye landskapet. I FN pågår det en intens strid om hvilke internasjonale normer som skal gjelde i det digitale rom, og NATO har definert cyber som et eget domene på linje med land, luft og sjø. Alt dette tilsier at digitalisering vil være med på å definere internasjonale konfliktlinjer i lang tid fremover. Men hvordan? I denne boken samler Håkon Bergsjø og Karsten Friis ulike perspektiver fra ledende fagmiljøer på hvordan digitalisering påvirker internasjonal politikk og konfliktdynamikk.
Responsen på Ukraina-krigen viser en ny fellesnordisk linje i sikkerhetspolitikken
Op. Ed. about responses to the war in Ukraine, and changes in longstanding Nordic security and defence policies.
Climate, Peace and Security Fact Sheet: South Sudan
Unpredictable annual variations in extreme weather events, like flooding and droughts, affect agriculture-dependent communities and influence pastoralist mobility patterns and routes. Such changes may intensify the risk of tensions between herders and farmers, often in connection with land, grazing, water and communal affairs. Transhumance, including cross-border migration from Sudan through the Greater Upper Nile in particular, exacerbates the spread of veterinary diseases and fuels environmental degradation and competition over scarce resources. Women and girls continue to bear the brunt of the effects of climate change; female-headed households are especially vulnerable. Climate-related livestock losses compounded by pre-existing rivalries increase the risk of cattle raiding, which can trigger retaliation, communal conflict, displacement, deepening intercommunal rivalry and the formation of armed groups.
Kina balanserer i bomberegnet
Invasjonen av Ukraina stiller Kina overfor dilemmaer de hadde håpet å unngå. Det kan føre til at Kina demper sin viktige økonomiske støtte til Putin.
Not so unique after all? Urgency and norms in EU foreign and security policy
The EU Global Strategy puts ‘principled pragmatism’ at the core of EU foreign and security policy. This has also been promoted as away of closing the gap between talk and action. Still, the concept has been widely criticized and interpreted as away of making the Union’s ‘organized hypocrisy’ less glaring. By exploring key EU foreign and security policy strategies and policies implemented over the past decade, this article suggests that a certain pattern for when the EU acts normatively and when it acts strategically can be identified. While the overall ambition is still to promote a more normative policy, also when it comes at a considerable economic cost, there is a limit to how it is willing to go. Evidence suggests that when faced with a situation perceived as urgent, the EU becomes more prone to implement policies that are at odds with its own principles.