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NUPI skole

The Middle East and North Africa

The conflicts and crises in the Middle East and North Africa are central themes in NUPI research on the region.

What roles do the emergent big powers play in these conflicts? How do great-power politics influence regional dynamics? These are central question that affect relations elsewhere around the globe, especially as regards energy issues. Developments in individual countries like Egypt, Syria and Iran are also followed closely by NUPI researchers, as are questions of the security situation in the area and how this is affected by actors and conflicts elsewhere in Africa.
Illustrasjon av ulike mennesker som går oppå et Europa-kart med EU-ringen av stjerner
Research project
2019 - 2021 (Completed)

Migration and Development: Sharing knowledge between Norway and Poland (MiDeShare)

The aim of this project is to improve our understanding of the relationship between migration and development in order to suggest more effective policies for addressing root causes of migration in wea...

  • Development policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Migration
  • Development policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Migration
Articles
News
Articles
News

New project examines root causes of migration in Africa and the Middle East

What is the relationship between migration and development?

  • Development policy
  • Europe
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Humanitarian issues
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Migration
Bildet viser båtmigranter fra Libya i en gummibåt til havs i 2018
Articles
News
Articles
News

Top marks for NUPI’s EU project

Reviewers find NUPI-led research on the EU’s crisis response "exceptional"! 

  • Security policy
  • Europe
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Conflict
  • International organizations
NUPI-forskere vant frem i knallhard konkurranse om prosjektfinansiering fra EU. F.v.: Direktør Ulf Sverdrup, administrasjonssjef Silje Skøien, prosjektleder Morten Bøås, seniorforsker Pernille Rieker og seniorforsker Kari Osland.
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Norge må tenke nytt i Persiabukta

(In norwegian only) I stedet for å si ja til å bidra militært i Persiabukta, er det mulig å tenke seg en mye mer proaktiv og klok norsk linje. Sommertid er glemselstid. Verden går tilsynelatende i sine vante spor. Og når vi endelig vender tilbake til kontorpulten, synes beste måte å takle jobbens utfordringer på å gjøre som vi pleier. Det bør ikke gjelde for norsk utenriks- og sikkerhetspolitikk. For der står vi ved et veiskille, og i løpet av sommeren har det dukket opp en ny prøvestein for Norge.

  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • NATO
  • Foreign policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • NATO
  • Foreign policy
  • The Middle East and North Africa
Publications
Publications
Chapter

Konflikt, ustabilitet og migranter: "post-Gaddafi blues" i Sahel

(In norwegian only) Hvilke lærdommer kan vi trekke av bombingen av Libya i 2011? Var krigføringen i tråd med krigens folkerett? Brøt norske myndigheter grunnloven i forbindelse med krigsdeltagelsen? Levde media opp til sitt samfunnsoppdrag så lenge krigføringen i Libya pågikk? Ble det norske folk holdt for narr om de egentlige årsakene til krigen? Og hva ble konsekvensene av Libya-krigen for nasjonen Libya, regionen og verdenssamfunnet? Libya: Krigens uutholdelige letthet setter et kritisk søkelys på Norges deltagelse i den Nato-ledete operasjonen i Libya. Blant forfatterne finner vi folkerettsjurister, historikere, militære, statsvitere og professorer i journalistikk og fredsforskning. Et felles utgangspunkt for alle bidragsyterne er spørsmålet om hva norske politikere, militære og det norske folk kan og bør lære av Norges første krig i Afrika.

  • Defence
  • NATO
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
  • Defence
  • NATO
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
Articles
News
Articles
News

Turkish Foreign Minister visited NUPI

Turkey's Foreign Minister H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu visited NUPI on Friday August 30th.

  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • Terrorism and extremism
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
  • Migration
Articles
News
Articles
News

NUPI Podcast: Iran can prevent ship attacks, but has no incentive to do so, says Iran FM

“Sending naval vessels to the Persian Gulf, with the clear aim of confronting Iran, will not bring security,” Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, told NUPI audience.

  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • Trade
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
  • Oceans
Publications
Publications
Chapter

Liberale verdifellesskap og selvbilder i praksis: Hvordan Norge gikk til krig og hva vi kan lære

(In norwegian only) Hvilke lærdommer kan vi trekke av bombingen av Libya i 2011? Var krigføringen i tråd med krigens folkerett? Brøt norske myndigheter grunnloven i forbindelse med krigsdeltagelsen? Levde media opp til sitt samfunnsoppdrag så lenge krigføringen i Libya pågikk? Ble det norske folk holdt for narr om de egentlige årsakene til krigen? Og hva ble konsekvensene av Libya-krigen for nasjonen Libya, regionen og verdenssamfunnet? Libya: Krigens uutholdelige letthet setter et kritisk søkelys på Norges deltagelse i den Nato-ledete operasjonen i Libya. Blant forfatterne finner vi folkerettsjurister, historikere, militære, statsvitere og professorer i journalistikk og fredsforskning. Et felles utgangspunkt for alle bidragsyterne er spørsmålet om hva norske politikere, militære og det norske folk kan og bør lære av Norges første krig i Afrika.

  • Defence
  • NATO
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
  • Defence
  • NATO
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Elite Survival and the Arab Spring: The Cases of Tunisia and Egypt

The article compares the survival of old regime elites in Tunisia and Egypt after the 2011 uprisings and analyses its enabling factors. Although democracy progressed in Tunisia and collapsed in Egypt, the countries show similarities in the old elite’s ability to survive the Arab Spring. In both cases, the popular uprisings resulted in the type of elite circulation that John Higley and György Lengyel refer to as ‘quasi-replacement circulation’, which is sudden and coerced, but narrow and shallow. To account for this converging outcome, the chapter foregrounds the instability, economic decline and information uncertainty in the countries post-uprising and the navigating resources, which the old elites possessed. The roots of the quasi-replacement circulation are traced to the old elites’ privileged access to money, network, the media and, for Egypt, external support. Only parts of the structures of authority in a political regime are formal. The findings show the importance of evaluating regime change in a broader view than the formal institutional set-up. In Tunisia and Egypt, the informal structures of the anciens régimes survived – so did the old regime elites.

  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Nation-building
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Nation-building
Publications
Publications
Report

Lebanese Sunni Islamism: A Post-Election Review

This research note analyses the internal and external factors that led to Al-Jama‘a al-Islamiyya‘s loss of its only parliamentary seat in 2018. Al-Jama‘a al-Islamiyya is the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Through this case, the author assesses the status of Lebanon’s Sunni community and the electoral fortunes of regional Muslim Brotherhood organizations more generally. The main external factors leading to Al-Jama‘a al-Islamiyya’s electoral decline included the abandonment by the Future Movement, the law on proportional representation, potential regional involvement in the Lebanese elections and the rise of pro-Hezbollah Sunni MPs like those belonging to al-Ahbash. The internal challenges faced by Al-Jama‘a al-Islamiyya, on the other hand, include its strategic dilemma on how to position itself in the sectarianized 'New Middle East' after the Arab uprisings, as well as its organizational structure and its inability to properly convince its supporters of the last-minute alliance with the Christian Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). This note also analyses the fate of Lebanon’s Salafis and their absence from the elections, a result of the security pressures they face following their political support of the Islamist armed opposition in neighboring Syria. Furthermore, the research note explores the trajectory of the Al Masharee’ Association known as Al-Ahbash which, by returning to parliament in 2018, presented a fatal blow to the electoral hopes of Lebanon’s Sunni Islamists.

  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Governance
  • The Middle East and North Africa
  • Conflict
  • Fragile states
  • Governance
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