Publications

Blurring the boundary between civic and ethnic: The Kremlin's new approach to national identity under Putin's third term

From 'Velvet Revolution to European Integration. Central European Developments and Prospects

Det frie internettet er under angrep

Kronikk: Kina og Russland prøver allerede å ta kontroll over «sitt» internett. Vil Vesten nå, etter USA-hackingen og foran vårens valg i Europa, følge etter? This op-ed is published in Norwegian only.

Legitimnost in relevantnost: Prihodnost mirovnih operacij Organizacije Združenih Narodov (Legitimacy and relevance: The future of the United Natio...

Securitisation of research: fieldwork under new restrictions in Darfur and Mali

Knowledge on conflict-affected areas is becoming increasingly important for scholarship and policy. This article identifies a recent change in knowledge production regarding 'zones of danger', attributing it not only to the external environment, but also to an on-going process of securitisation of research resulting from institutional and disciplinary practices. Research is increasingly framed by security concerns and is becoming a security concern in itself, although the implications are not readily acknowledged. To illustrate these developments, we draw on fieldwork in Mali and Darfur.

European Integration Reset: Lessons from Brexit, Norway, and Eastern Europe

Given the severity and length of the Great Recession, whether or not Europe needs more or less integration is a much less consequential discussion than that Europe needs better and more effective integration. In this policy brief, we argue that taking stock of the integration experience may be the key to support the search for novel and more effective policy initiatives, resume growth and leave the current crisis behind. The brief presents three historical examples that illustrate the power deep integration has had in propelling the European project. The first demonstrates how deep integration contributed significantly to stop the relative economic decline of the United Kingdom (UK) vis-à-vis the EU founding members. We suggest EU membership played a greater role in this respect than Thatcher’s reforms. The second example displays how deep integration drove increases in labor productivity in Sweden, Austria and Finland (which gained unrestricted access to the Single Market by joining the European Economic Area, EEA, in 1994 and later the EU in 1995) compared to similar developments in Norway (which joined only the EEA in 1994). The third example draws from the experience of the Central European new member members to illustrate that a crucial (yet less appreciated than trade openness, foreign investment and migration) mechanism to these advancements has been the ability of deep integration to increase State capacity and hence to shore up positive institutional change.

History

This handbook presents in a comprehensive, concise and accessible overview, the emerging field of international political sociology. It summarizes and synthesizes existing knowledge in the field while presenting central themes and methodologies that have been at the centre of its development, providing the reader with a sense of the diversity and research dynamics that are at the heart of international political sociology as a field of study. A wide range of topics covered include: International political sociology and its cognate disciplines and fields of study; Key themes including security, mobility, finance, development, gender, religion, health, global elites and the environment; Methodologies on how to engage with international political sociology including fieldwork, archives, discourse, ethnography, assemblage, materiality, social spaces and visuality; Current and future challenges of international political sociology addressed by three key scholars. Providing a synthetic reference point, summarizing key achievements and engagements while putting forward future developments and potential fruitful lines of inquiry, it is an invaluable resource for students, academics and researchers from a range of disciplines, particularly international relations, political science, sociology, political geography, international law, international political economy, security studies and gender studies.

Strategic cooperation against terrorism 2.0? Russia's initial positions on Syria. 1:2

This project examines the prospects for Russia-Western practical cooperation against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and, more broadly, for a rapprochement between Russia, NATO and key NATO member states post-Crimea. The analytical point of departure is two-fold: Firstly, the project will examine how Russia’s longstanding rejection of a ‘Western’ world-order, along with various Western leaders’ increasing depiction of Russia as an ‘adversary’, shape the two parties’ room for manoeuvre with respect to practical collaboration on the ground in Syria. Secondly, and operationalizing ‘the West’ as two key ‘Atlanticist’ member states in NATO, the United States and Britain, it will examine how Russian and Western domestic debates constrain governments and political leaders’ scope for action, and their ability to adjust their commenced policy paths in Syria. When adversarial statements about ‘the other’ are voiced by state leaders in an international setting, they are often portrayed in the media as being reflective of that particular leader or government’s position alone. In this project, we suggest that the dynamics of Russia-Western relations cannot be properly understood without alsoconsidering how states’ security policies are empowered and limited by domestic security policy debates. The project will provide an up-to-date, in-depth analysis of how contemporary Russian, American and British security policies are being constituted and constrained by domestic debates. Furthermore, it will trace how domestically negotiated security policies materialize in actions on the ground in Syria. Against the backdrop of the empirical analysis, publications from this project will discuss the likelihood of these states finding common ground against IS in Syria, and the prospects for Russia-Western rapprochement more generally.

Strategic cooperation against terrorism 2.0? Collaborating with adversaries. 2:2

In October 2016, international media reported that the Russia– US diplomatic dialogue over Syria had collapsed, with both sides holding the other party to blame. While the US State Department observed that ‘everybody’s patience with Russia has run out’, Russia’s Foreign Minister criticized the United States for using ‘a language of sanctions and ultimatums while continuing selective cooperation with our country’ (CNN 2016). The breakdown and the statements that ensued marked the endpoint of a turbulent diplomatic year, which had begun with a brief handshake between presidents Obama and Putin at the UN General Assembly late in September 2015. In the months following that handshake, Russia and the US-led coalition participated in talks and activities aimed at finding a negotiated solution to the civil war in Syria as well as to defeat international terrorism there.

Norsk forsvarspolitikk. Territorialforsvar og internasjonal innsats 1990-2015

Norsk forsvarspolitikk har gjennomgått store omstillinger siden den kalde krigens slutt, spesielt i perioden 1990–2005. Regjering og Storting sendte stadig flere soldater til fredsbevarende og fredsopprettende operasjoner i utlandet, mens Forsvaret selv fremdeles hadde forsvar av landet som sitt primære fokus. Forfatter Græger viser hvordan kaldkrig-tenkningen og etablerte praksiser i forsvaret og forsvarsmiljøer lenge bremset en politisk ønsket omstilling fra invasjonsforsvar til innsatsforsvar tilpasset internasjonale operasjoner. Boken viser hvordan norsk utenriks-, sikkerhets- og forsvarspolitikk er tett sammenvevet, og stadig utfordres av endringer i trusselbildet og i NATO, men løfter også fram de nasjonale forutsetningene for handling. Forfatteren har analysert debatter både på Stortinget og innen Forsvaret, og kombinerer dette med studier av hvordan forsvarspolitikken utformes i praksis – blant annet gjennom langtidsplanlegging, militær utdanning og profesjonsutvikling. Boken tilfører ny kunnskap om forhold av vesentlig betydning for norsk forsvars- og sikkerhetspolitikk.