Linking National and European Governance: Lessons for Poland and Norway, PISM Strategic File nr.17(53)

(Co-authored/co-edited with Polish members of the project team Lidia Puka, Roderick Parkes,Agata Gostyńska, Pernille Rieker, Marta Stormowska)Influencing the EU’s governance poses both a challenge and an opportunity to mid-size countries like Poland and Norway. As an analytical approach, “experimentalist governance”—with its focus on the utility of learning in a multilevel system—should offer both countries clues about influencing the European regime. Yet, the relevance of the theory to policy areas of most interest to both countries— security, energy and migration—remains unclear. As part of the GoodGov project, this paper assesses the applicability of experimentalist learning to these three fields and highlights the need for both countries to strengthen horizontal cooperation with state and non-state actors if they are to exploit it.

Which Way Cuba? The 2013 Status of Political Transformations

The “humanitarianization” of urban violence

International Relations Pluralism and History—Embracing Amateurism to Strengthen the Profession

This article approaches the possibility of achieving pluralist International Relations research through engagements with history/History. There are serious sociological and disciplinary challenges to achieving pluralism, most importantly related to the need to make a mark and a career in one specific discipline and the constant diversification of disciplines. Even so, drawing on the literature of amateurism, understood as engaging in an activity for the love of it, it is argued here that a spirit of engaged amateurism in dealing with history offers an important opportunity for exploring commonalities and fostering pluralism both within the discipline and across disciplinary boundaries.

Role of South-South Cooperation and Emerging Powers in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding

Extending State Authority in Liberia The Gbarnga Justice and Security Hub / Marina Caparini

This report examines the establishment of the first regional justice and security hub near Gbarnga, Liberia. By building up law enforcement and justice capacities in the outlying regions, the hub represents a joint effort by the Government of Liberia and the UN Peacebuilding Fund to extend Liberian state authority. The context for this pilot initiative is that Liberian police and justice services have a weak presence outside the capital city of Monrovia and will increasingly bear sole responsibility for safety and security as the UN Mission in Liberia draws down its forces with a view to eventual withdrawal.

“Sin mujeres por aquí”. Discursos de género en las Operaciones de Paz de Naciones Unidas = “There are no women here”. Gender Discourses i...

Hva var Norge i det danske imperiet? Skottland og Norge som semi-sentra

Denne artikkelen handler om Skottlands og Norges roller som politiske enheter i henholdsvis det britiske og danske imperiet. I artikkelens første del er argumentet at «semi-sentrum» er en nyttig ny analysekategori for å forstå de strukturelle posisjonene en politisk enhet kan inneha i et imperialt system. Eksisterende strukturelle imperiemodeller fokuserer på relasjoner mellom et imperiesentrum og periferier. Disse modellene har problemer med å forklare politiske enheter som innehar kjennetegn ved begge – både sentrum og periferi. Det nye begrepet semi-sentrum kan forklare imperiedynamikker på en bedre måte, empirisk illustrert i artikkelens andre del som undersøker Skottlands og Norges roller innen sine respektive imperier. Spesielt relevant for dette spesialnummeret er hvordan man ved å se Norges rolle som semi-sentrum kan kaste nytt lys på embedsmennenes sentrale rolle i det nye Norge etter 1814, samt hvordan sammenligningen med Skottland utvider det komparative universet for den nye norske statsdannelsen i etterkant av en imperieoppløsning.

Hvor går verdens største demokrati nå?