Chad’s Pivotal Role in the Regional Crisis
An analysis of Chad's regime role in the context of the military and humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin
Jihad globale o insurgency locale? L'ISIS in Africa, da Boko Haram allo Stato Islamico nel Grande Sahara
This chapter sums up the evolution of jihadi activity in Mali and around Lake Chad, connecing local events to the concurrent emergence and evolution of the Islamic State.
The Origins of Boko Haram, and Why the War on Terror Matters
This article, prompted as a response to a recent contribution penned by Audu Bulama Bukarti,returns to the history of an incident occurred in 2003 between the Nigerian security and a group of militants popularly known as the “Nigerian Taliban” and considered as a precursor to Boko Haram. While the historiography around this incident has been almost saturated by debates around the size of the links between the “Nigerian Taliban” and al-Qaeda, that period of Nigerian history continues to be read in isolation from the broader counter-terrorism strategies conceived at the time by the Nigerian State in the context of what, for us, is a fundamental structural factor, i.e. the then mounting Global War on Terror. Drawing on a different set of data than Bukarti, our contribution will argue that, far from having been a “local” incident, the “Nigerian Taliban crisis” shows clear signs of how, at the time, the Nigerian space was being penetrated by the War on Terror’s strategic logic, discursive structures and political imperatives. The successive explosion, over the following years, of the “Boko Haram phenomenon”, is in our opinion the result of the latter as much as of the former.
Presidentvalget i Hviterussland: Kan vi se begynnelsen på slutten for Europas siste diktatur?
This article that is published in the Norwegian Atlantic Committee series Ukens analyse examines the political situation in the Belarus in the aftermath of the presidential elections in the country and the wave of protests against the rule of A Lukashenko who has been the country's president since 1994
Comments on situation in Belarus after presidential elections
Comments on sitiation of the Belarus president A Lukashenka in the aftermath of the presidential elections and the wave of protests against his rule
Norway as an anergy actor in Europe and in the Baltic Sea region
A brief intervention at the conference organized by the Institute of Central Europe in Lublin, Poland on the role of Norway as an energy actor in Europe and in its role in the Baltic Sea region, on line webinar
When every act is war: Post-Crimea conflict dynamics and Russian foreign policy (WARU)
Tension between great powers in world politics is escalating rapidly. What are the driving forces behind deteriorating relations? Can we explain them solely by the ‘aggressiveness’ of the other (be th...
19 questions for a safer future
Europe is divided, and cooperation is essential to ensure a safe future. NUPI’s Julie Wilhelmsen is one of the experts in the Cooperative Security Initiative (CSI), an initiative which is designed to generate ideas and shift momentum in favor of cooperative security and multilateralism. CSI has identified 19 key questions– and invites everyone to answer online.
Russian Renewable Energy: Regulations and outcomes
This chapter reviews the development of the legal framework for renewable energy in Russia and discusses the current state of renewable energy in the country. The Russian support scheme for renewable energy is elaborated in detail for both the wholesale and retail energy markets, and the outcomes of the policy are assessed based on the current state of renewable energy in Russia.
The External Dimension of EU Migration Management: The Role of Aid
Aid is seen as a key EU instrument in addressing the root causes of migration, but it has not been decisive for the drastic reduction of irregular arrivals in Europe in recent years. Nevertheless, development assistance has become crucial leverage for the EU in persuading major transit countries to improve their border control. Although this “externalisation” of EU border management seems like a successful approach for now, it is not sustainable in the long term. The Union still needs to find better synergy between migration management and development policy that is not designed to stop migration but to manage and regulate it in a more mutually beneficial way.