Tobias Etzold
Tobias Etzold (PhD) is a Senior Research Fellow in the Research Group for Security and Defense at NUPI. He mainly works as project leader of the C...
Security realities of freezing politics and thawing landscapes in the Arctic
Navigating Breakup: Security realities of freezing politics and thawing landscapes in the Arctic
Russia’s re-invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has had immediate and ongoing effects for Arctic security and cooperative governance at both a regional and international level. The region is impacted by the increased sanctions, the withdrawal of Western companies from Russia, the Western disconnect from energy dependencies, and has also witnessed an increase in hybrid security incidents. In addition, climate change continues at to change the environment at a staggering pace in the north. This report is an input to the Arctic Security Roundtable (ASR) and the Munich Security Conference, February 2023. It provides insights into both established and novel drivers of change in Arctic and security governance. Chapters cover the impacts of climate change on the physical environment, human security and the Arctic region’s military operational environment, and review the regional security policies of the three major powers (USA, China and Russia). The report argues leaders must continue to address Arctic governance challenges and take concrete steps to mitigate and manage risks, regardless of the cessation of cooperation with Russia and the radical uncertainty shaping the broader political environment.
The EU Navigating Multilateral Cooperation (NAVIGATOR)
How should the EU navigate the increasingly complex - and conflict-laden - institutional spaces of global governance to advance a rules-based international order? And what factors should be emphasized...
Building Sustainable Democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean
How can the Escazú Agreement contribute to democracy building?
The China Policy During Søreide’s Tenure as Foreign Minister (2017–2021): Familiar Tracks and New Conflict Lines
The period with Ine Eriksen Søreide serving as foreign minister (2017–2021) provides an exciting window into the development of Norwegian China-policies. After a six-year freeze in the political relations between Norway and China, Søreide took on the task of normalizing the relationship and navigating it into a time characterized by sharpened conflicts. In this article, we seek answers to two central questions: how did the China-policies evolve during these years, and what explains the turn towards more security- and value-oriented measures in the second half of the period? We combine theories and explanations emphasizing the role of institutional stability, stepwise political change, and structural, international influence.
Special Issue on the Evolving Nature of African-Led Peace Support Operations and African Armies
Key Questions • How has the evolution of African-led PSOs on the continent shaped Africa’s security response to insecurity? • How has African-led PSO influenced the identity of African armies and their responses to insecurity in Africa over the last two decades? • Does the experience of African-led PSOs drive military actors' decision-making during times of crisis? What impact (if any) does African-led PSO have on African military professionalism?
Free, but manipulated? Journalism and politics in Tunisia’s fall from democracy
Tunisia was the only country that started developing as a democracy after the Arab Spring. Several important institutions were established to safeguard a democratic development, not least freedom of speech and free media. Today, however, the country is sliding towards authoritarianism. What happened, and what is the role of the media and journalism in Tunisia's withering democracy?
Globale Storbritannia i nord
In this project we aim to contribute to the emerging research on the UK’s quest for a new foreign, security and defence policy role at the dusk of the formal Brexit process....
Ad hoc coalitions in global governance: short-notice, task- and time-specific cooperation
Ad hoc coalitions (AHCs) are an indispensable but scantly conceptualized part of global governance. In recent years, several typologies and classifications of global governance arrangements have been provided, mostly differentiating them based on their organizational design features of degree of formality and membership composition. These do not capture AHCs and the role they play in global governance. In this article, we not only provide a conceptualization of AHCs, but also propose ways in which AHCs fit within the broader global governance architecture. We argue that what sets AHCs apart is not so much their (in)formality or membership, but rather their short-notice creation, their task-specific purpose and their temporarily circumscribed existence. We therefore define AHCs as autonomous arrangements with a task-specific mandate established at short notice for a limited time frame. We then develop a research agenda on the nature and future of AHCs, including their short- and long-term relationship with other multilateral arrangements in the global governance architecture. This is important, as we do yet not know how AHCs complement, compete and impact on international organizations and international crisis response.