Publications
Iceland’s Relations with its Regional Powers: Alignment with the EU-US sanctions on Russia
The paper examines the Icelandic government’s consideration to withdraw its support for the sanctions against Russia over Ukraine in 2015. The consideration came as a surprise to many since Iceland in the past has habitually aligned itself closely with the United States and the European Union in such matters. The Icelandic fishing industry lobbied hard for the sanctions to be lifted to avoid Russian counter-sanctions on Iceland. After considerable internal debate, the government decided to uphold the sanctions, but settled on a policy of not taking part in EU´s foreign policy declarations about the sanctions. This move is interesting given Iceland’s traditional positioning between two gravitational centres in world politics: the EU and the US. The paper discusses what this case tells us about Icelandic policymakers’ room for maneuvering in the formulation and enactment of its foreign policy, and about Iceland’s foreign policy bonds to the US and the EU.
Stabilisation in the Congo: Opportunities and challenges
Stabilisation is often interpreted as a matter of military interventions in so-called ‘fragile states’, and/or as technical and development solutions to what we argue are political problems. However, an often poorly understood stabilisation strategy is the revised International Security and Stabilisation Support Strategy for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This strategy engages communities and authorities at local and national levels in dialogues, in order to identify causes of and develop solutions to conflicts. Stabilisation in the DRC, we argue, becomes a matter of targeting deep-rooted political and economic manipulations in the country’s eastern region. This strategy, if fully endorsed, provides the first coherent and thorough approach to stabilisation in the DRC, an exit strategy for the UN mission (MONUSCO) and an opportunity for learning for other UN operations.
Norwegian Police in International Operations 1989-2016
This policy brief presents the main findings and recommendations from a longer survey-based report with the same title, documenting the experiences of Norwegian police personnel in international operations from 1989 until today. The purpose of the survey was to systematically gather the knowledge Norwegian police bring home from international operations, be they peace operations, stabilization missions or other assistance missions. This information is an important source of information for policymakers, practitioners and academics in order to understand the challenges Norwegian police have met, not only in the field but also before deployment and after return. This is meant to provide an improved knowledge base for developing new policy and practice for Norwegian police deployments and international police assistance.
Norsk politi i internasjonal tjeneste 1989-2016
(Norwegian only): Denne rapporten dokumenterer erfaringer blant norsk politipersonell som har tjenestegjort i internasjonale operasjoner fra 1989 frem til i dag. Spørreskjemaet ble sendt til 440 personer, og det kom inn 277 svar: 78% fra menn, de resterende 22% fra kvinner. Flertallet av dem er fra 41 til 57 år og fortsatt ansatt i politiet. 57% har vært ute mer enn en gang, og 81% av de som har svart, har vært en eller flere ganger i Kosovo, Sør-Sudan, Afghanistan, Liberia, Palestina, Bosnia og Herzegovina eller Haiti (i synkende rekkefølge etter antall).
Russisk-samisk politikk på 1990-tallet, og dens sovjetiske forhistorie
The Closure of the Russian Military Base at Akhalkalaki: Challenges for the Local Energy Elite, the Informal Economy and Stability