Publications
Har ikke EØS motstanderne fått med seg brexit?
Det pågår en debatt om EØS-avtalen. SV ønsker å utrede alternativer. Noen av EØS-motstanderne ønsker å gå tilbake til frihandelsavtalene fra 1973. Har de ikke fulgt med på brexit? Frihandelsavtalene ga tollfri adgang for store deler av norsk industrieksport. De fungerte i noen grad etter hensikten, men allerede da de trådte i kraft, ble de sett på som utdaterte.
Frykten for Bolsonaro
Brasils nye president kan skape utfordringer også for Norge. Det er naivt å tro at Brasil-Norge relasjonene vil være upåvirket dersom alle sider av Bolsonaros politikk gjennomføres. Samarbeidet om klima og regnskog synes å være særlig utsatt.
Desinformasjon virker
(Available in Norwegian only): Omfanget av desinformasjon er større enn mange tror. Spørsmålet er hvordan vi kan beskytte oss, skriver Ulf Sverdrup i denne DN-kronikken.
Norway and the changing Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union
For decades, Norway has cooperated with the European Union in matters of foreign policy, security and defence. It has thus participated in EU civilian and military operations, aligned itself with EU political declarations and restrictive measures against states and/or individuals, and collaborated with the European Defence Agency. Unlike other frameworks of cooperation between the EU and Norway, such as the EEA and Schengen agreements, the cooperation in foreign policy, security and defence does not rely on a single setup, with elaborate institutional arrangements and dynamic obligations. Rather, Norway joins forces with the Union in an ad hoc fashion and often based on informal arrangements. This allows for flexibility, but also entails that Norway has few formal channels for exerting influence on EU CFSP decisions to which it subsequently subscribes. Against this backdrop, and as the EU has become more active in this policy area, Norway has shown a renewed interest in deepening its relationship with the Union in CFSP matters. This report examines the ways in which Norway can enhance its cooperation and develop its institutional arrangements with the EU in this fast-evolving field. The discussion is based on an assessment of what the EU is able to offer in view of its constitutional framework, as informed by its on-going discussions with the UK on a future security partnership post-Brexit. Given the increasing interactions between the CFSP and other fields of the EU’s activities, the analysis also discusses whether Norway may draw a cooperation dividend from its participation in the single market through the EEA, to build a deeper and more participatory cooperation with the EU in CFSP matters. The report envisages four possible ways of enhancing the Norway-EU cooperation in the area CFSP: an extension of the present cooperation by ad hoc participation in new CFSP initiatives, a more active use of other existing EU-Norway frameworks of cooperation including the EEA, the setting up of a distinct EU-Norway CFSP agreement and the participation in a multilateralised EU-UK CFSP partnership.
Erbil: Kurderne utfordrer regionens stater
Om boken (Available in Norwegian only: Midtøstens dramatiske historie har i stor grad dreid seg om kontrollen over og forbindelsene mellom de klassiske byene i regionen: Jerusalem, Bagdad, Mekka, Kairo og andre. Byene er brennpunkter i det større regionale bildet - liksom Midtøsten selv er et brennpunkt internasjonalt. Byene utgjør Midtøstens nervesystem, og har alltid gjort det. De rommer viktige deler av vår sivilisasjonshistorie, og består i dag som levende byer, tross ødeleggende kriger og okkupasjoner, med shoppingsentra, trafikkproblemer og nabokrangler. Statene er mer usikre og ustabile enheter, ofte formet av ytre makter uten hensyn til lokale identiteter, interesser og behov. Dette skaper konfliktmønstre som kan være vanskelig å forstå for oss som tar nasjonalstaten for gitt. Boka gir en faglig kompetent og lett tilgjengelig framstilling av kompleksiteten og nyansene i de brennbare spørsmålene som berøres, samtidig som overblikket holdes tydelig fram for leseren. Alle kapittelforfatterne har svært god kjennskap til byen de skriver om, og har et personlig engasjement for den.
The emergence of foreign policy
International relations scholarship typically treats foreign policy as a taken-for-granted analytical concept. It assumes either that all historical polities have foreign policies or that foreign policy originates in seventeenth-century Europe with the separation between the “inside” and “outside” of the state. It generally holds that foreign policy differs in essential ways from other kinds of policy, such as carrying with it a special need for secrecy. Halvard Leira argues against this view. The difference between “foreign” and “domestic” policy results from specific political processes; secrecy begat foreign policy. Growing domestic differentiation between state and civil society in the eighteenth century- articulated through a relatively free press operating in a nascent public sphere - enabled the emergence of foreign policy as a practical concept. The concept served to delimit the legitimate sphere of political discourse from the exclusive, executive sphere of king and cabinet. Leira explores these processes in Britain and France, important cases with different trajectories, one of reform, the other of revolution. Historicizing foreign policy like this serves to denaturalize the separation between different forms of policy, as well as the necessity of secrecy. Doing so cautions against the uncritical application of abstract analytical terms across time and space.
Mannen, myten og utenrikspolitikken: Putin som utenrikspolitisk aktør
I henhold til den russiske grunnloven tilligger utenriks- og forsvarspolitikk formelt presidentens domene. Etter at Putin nå i snart tjue år har vært med på å prege politikken, er det etter hvert vanskelig å skille mellom hva som er Putins personlige stil og påvirkning og hva som representerer grunntonen og de lengre linjer i russisk utenrikspolitikk. Men hvor står Putin ved inngangen til sin fjerde – og i henhold til grunnloven siste – presidentperiode? Hva kjennetegner ham som person og politiker? Og hva kan vi forvente fra Putin på den utenrikspolitiske arenaen i løpet av den neste seksårsperioden?
Together all the way? Abeyance and co-optation of Sunni networks in Lebanon
This article assesses how social movement continuity may vary in non-democratic and repressive contexts. Using a single case study of Islamist networks in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli over three decades, I ask: Under what conditions is social movement continuity possible, and in what form? Former studies have three levels of abeyance - activist network and personnel; movement goals and repertoires; and collective identities and symbols - are instructive. Network survival and abeyance structures can facilitate rapid mass protests in case of a facilitating external conjuncture. This analysis relies on data collected during fieldwork conducted over a decade in Tripoli, triangulated with secondary literature and primary sources in Arabic. I find that four individual-level continuity pathways are available in authoritarian contexts: continuation of activism; disengagement; co-optation; and arena shifts. These pathways should not be seen as final and stable outcomes but as fluctuating and contingent processes, or pathways. Due to the ambiguity of informal networks, co-opted movements may easily turn against the authorities once again. Moreover, local legacies of protests may be used as resources by new protest leaders.
China and Multilateral Development Banks: Positions, Motivations, Ambitions
The evolving relationships between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the major multilateral development banks (MDBs) reflect China’s evolution as a prospering developing country and a major power. Why has China been nurturing strong interests towards MDBs? This report focuses on changing positions, motivations, and ambitions concerning China and multilateral development banking.
Concluding remarks. The future of intelligence oversight
This book examines how key developments in international relations in recent years have affected intelligence agencies and their oversight. Since the turn of the millennium, intelligence agencies have been operating in a tense and rapidly changing security environment. This book addresses the impact of three factors on intelligence oversight: the growth of more complex terror threats, such as those caused by the rise of Islamic State; the colder East-West climate following Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea; and new challenges relating to the large-scale intelligence collection and intrusive surveillance practices revealed by Edward Snowden. This volume evaluates the impact these factors have had on security and intelligence services in a range of countries, together with the challenges that they present for intelligence oversight bodies to adapt in response. With chapters surveying developments in Norway, Romania, the UK, Belgium, France, the USA, Canada and Germany, the coverage is varied, wide and up-to-date. This book will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, security studies and International Relations.s varied, wide and up-to-date.