Publications
Israel og moralsk balansegang
Kritikere av lsraels overgrep mot palestinere blir ofte urettmessig beskyldt for antisemittisme. Samtidig er antisemittisme et økende problem i deler av Europa og USA.
Chinese belts and roads stir mixed reactions in Europe
European governments generally welcome Chinese contributions to infrastructure and development. Many actors inside and outside the EU hope to see countries and markets along the proposed belts and roads prosper. They support China’s efforts to strengthen connectivity and trade. But most, if not all, keep asking China to clarify its plans and ambitions.
Sustaining Peace: Can a new approach change the UN?
When António Guterres started as UN Secretary General, he emphasised that conflict prevention had to be a top priority of the United Nations. This is why the United Nations are currently working on specifying the new ‘sustaining peace’ approach, passed by concurrent resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council in 2016. What are the challenges with their implementation? How does the current geopolitical situation impact the concept? And does it have the potential to make the UN fit for the 21 century?
Sikkerhetspolitiske rammebetingelser i bevegelse
(Available in Norwegian only): Verden preges av mer kompleksitet og usikkerhet enn på flere tiår. Kanskje har vi har allerede vent oss til hyppigere omveltninger. Mennesker er tilpasningsdyktige. Kanskje har vi ikke fullt ut tatt inn rekkevidden – også for Norge – av skredet av hendelser og endring i Europa og internasjonal sikkerhetspolitikk siden 2014. Norges sikkerhetspolitiske omland har blitt mer polarisert og mer fragmentert. Samtidig er noe dypere synliggjort; grunnpilarene for norsk sikkerhets og forsvarspolitikk er i bevegelse. Retningen er også mindre medstrøms for småstaten Norge enn nordmenn har vent seg til i nærmest hele perioden etter den andre verdenskrig. Denne analysen belyser utviklingstrekk som påvirker rammebetingelsene for Norges sikkerhet. Noen trekk skiller seg ut: Geopolitisk maktforskyvning utfordrer den institusjonaliserte verdensorden, og USA har vist tegn til å en mer avventende holdning til rollen som garantist og ledende stormakt. Samtidig kan et mer komplekst trusselbilde tvinge NATO til endringer som utfordrer samholdet i alliansen. Sett fra et norsk ståsted: Hvilke dilemmaer, utfordringer og nøkkelspørsmål vil kunne møte norske beslutningstakere i årene som kommer?
Diplomacy as Global Governance
The chapter details how diplomacy - the case study being Norwegian diplomacy - is no longer solely about representing the state vis a vis other states. It has evolved to also include governing specific issues. This governance aspect of diplomacy becomes even more interesting as an expression of the transformation of diplomacy when we consider that what is being governed is not directly linked to the security of the state, but to ideals and principles that attain meaning as first and foremost "international" issues or goals. We find evidence of a gradual shift of diplomacy towards governing of international issues, and reflect on what this means for the presentation of the state vis a vis other states.
Expertise and Practice: The Evolving Relationship between Study and Practice of Security
The chapter details the evolving relationship between the study and the practice of international security. This relationship is seen as one of differentiation: international security has proliferated into several sub-fields - cyber security, conflict management etc - with increased specialisation of techniques of governing. This specialisation is matched by a differentiation in academic research and expertise, so that there is by now a broad array of different types of security expertise. This differentiation into sub-fields reflects a broader trend also found in other issue-areas.
Building tax systems in fragile states. Challenges, achievements and policy recommendations
This report systematises and analyses existing knowledge on taxation in fragile states. Efforts to support domestic revenue mobilisation in conflict situations require a different approach and other means than in the more stable developing countries. On that basis, the study discusses possible entry points for Norwegian support to domestic revenue mobilisation in ways that may contribute to strengthen state-building and improve government legitimacy. Complexity, limited experience and security concerns suggest that one should be cautious to adopt bilateral technical assistance programmes of the kind implemented in other developing countries. Instead, the study argues in favour of engagement via multilateral institutions, including multi-donor trust funds and other forms of pooled resources. The report recommends nine entry points for Norwegian support to taxation in fragile states: 1. Do no harm 2. Safeguard donor coordination, but ensure a certain humility 3. Support customs administration 4. Capacitate management and taxation of natural resources 5. Support the United Nations Tax Committee 6. Improve taxpayer-tax administration relations 7. Remember the sub-national tax system 8. Support civil based organisations 9. Develop research capacity
Between classical and critical geopolitics in a changing Arctic
Puzzled by how geographical changes in the Arctic might cause changes in state behavior the authors of this article have been inspired to return to the roots of geopolitical reasoning. By combining insights from the intellectual roots of the geopolitical tradition with empirical data on geographical changes as well as policy changes in the Arctic today, we investigate the degree to which geopolitics, in the sense of geography influencing politics, is still a useful approach in the discipline of International Relations (IR). In limiting our primary focus to the state level, and investigating the period since the turn of the millennium, this article seeks to develop new knowledge concerning if, how, and to what extent geography matters in international politics. Our empirical investigation indicates that geographical changes in the Arctic have indeed had an effect on power relations among several states. Overall, this article shows that geography is an important factor in IR in the sense of enabling or empowering state actors. However, while it appears that physical geography is a possible factor in the cases analyzed to explain changes in identified power potentials, it does not always account for these changes on its own. Economic, political, legal, and historical factors also play a role in the observed power shifts.
Russian foreign policy as an instrument for domestic mobilization
Despite numerous declarations, the Russian authorities have done very little about domestic reforms, such as economic modernization. By contrast, Russia’s external policy has been extremely active, and is extensively debated within Russia itself. On the surface, it may seem that the domestic agenda is fully suppressed by the external one. In reality, however, foreign policy plays an important instrumental role, as the main tool for achieving domestic consensus and mobilization. It is public approval of the country’s foreign policy, together with ‘Russia-friendly’ interpretations of international processes, that create openings for the political elite to postpone domestic reforms. Various strategies for domestic reforms have recently been elaborated on the order of the President – but there are no indications that they will be realized anytime soon.
Forskning vs. synsing
Børge Brende burde vite bedre enn å avvise kunnskapsbasert kritikk som synsing.