Publications
Playing PPP Catch-Up
Myanmar is lagging behind the other ASEAN member states, and its development needs are enormous. PPPs are relatively new to Myanmar. The country can benefit from PPPs for both hard and soft infrastructure. A major advantage of implementing large-scale public-private sector projects is the mutual learning process that is essential for the emergence of strong institutions that are necessary to implement PPPs successfully in Myanmar.
SGBV Capacity-building in Peace Operations: Specialized Police Teams
This Policy Brief examines the Norwegian-led specialized police team (SPT) deployed to MINUSTAH, focusing on building Haitian police capacity to investigate sexual and genderbased violence (SGBV)
External powers and the Arab Spring
Governance in the Middle East is a sad story, and the fate of the Arab Spring added to the misery. After the initial euphoria, much got worse. Except in Tunisia, where Islamic and secular political groups compete for power in a democratic political system. This book examines the role of external powers during the Arab Spring in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. How did the United States and the European Union react? What did Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Iran – regional states not directly affected by the revolutionary uprisings – do? All of them acted on the basis of their own values and interests, with scant regard for the preferences of the local actors. Some tried to promote democratic practice and human rights, but were hampered by their own inefficiencies and conflicting interests. In the end, none of them mattered very much: they were little more than bystanders. In this book, leading international experts in their respective fields offer perspectives and analyses that, hopefully, will be of use in shaping more effective support for better governance at critical junctures in the future. The book is a joint project of the Toda Institute for Global Policy and Research in Hawai and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) in Oslo.
European security in practice: EU-NATO communities in-the-making?
European security is at a critical juncture and many have called for a more coherent and efficient response, involving both the EU and NATO. However, the primary tool for EU–NATO cooperation, “Berlin Plus”, has been stuck in a political quagmire since the mid-2000s, making a lot of scholars to conclude that this cooperation is obsolete and outdated. This article is challenging this view by analysing a range of informal but regular interaction patterns that have emerged. Using practice theory, it sheds new light on and explores how EU and NATO staff at all levels engage in informal practices on various sites in headquarters in Brussels and in field operations. A study of EU–NATO cooperation as practice focuses on the everyday, patterned production of security as well as what makes action possible, such as (tacit) practical knowledge and shared “background” knowledge (education, training, and experience). The article also discusses the extent to which shared repertoires of practice may evolve into loose communities of practice that cut across organisational and professional boundaries.