Norden og alliansene: Sikkerhetspolitisk debatt og veivalg i 2021
Presentation of findings from the research project "Norden and the alliances".
Diplomati og toppmøter: Hva skjer foran og bak kulissene under COP26?
Interview with Norwegian media, about diplomacy, summits and international dynamics at the COP26.
The potential and limits of EU crisis response
The aim of this chapter is to identify the potential and limits of the EU’s external crisis response. Rather than focusing on the character of the EU as a foreign policy actor, it concentrates on the EU toolbox or repertoire applied in EU missions and activities in various external crises and conflicts in the near and extended neighbourhood, and also how the Union’s activities are perceived by local stakeholders. A key question is whether there is a match or mismatch between EU intentions, the implementation, and the perceptions of local stakeholders. The analysis in this article draws on both a series of qualitative case studies and a quantitative analysis of a large number of EU documents and statements. This mixed method has enabled us to explore the EU’s crisis response repertoire systematically and from various angles.
Matt McDonald, Ecological Security: Climate Change and the Construction of Security (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021)
This is a book review of Matt McDonald's book titled "Ecological Security: Climate Change and the Construction of Security". This book provides a radical and unusually comprehensive normative framework–an ‘ecological security’ approach—for guiding efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change; one that McDonald argues, provides a morally superior approach to those currently employed within the climate-security policy agenda. Following Andrew Linklater’s (1998) classic description of Critical Theory, the book moves in three steps: (a) it conducts a sociological analysis of the dominant climate security discourses and their deficiencies, (b) lays out an ethical case for ecological security and (c) undertakes a praxeological analysis of the ‘immanent possibilities’ within existing institutions for advancing ecological security (p. 12). At each step, McDonald draws upon an eclectic array of critical scholarship—feminism, political ecology, green state theory, among others—and spends considerable space engaging in good faith with would-be sceptics. Indeed, McDonald’s book offers a tour de-forces and model for combining classic critique of the status quo with a positive normative vision and most unusually, a sustained analysis of how to practically bring it about. Book review of Matt McDonald, Ecological Security: Climate Change and the Construction of Security (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), 240 pp., US$ 99, ISBN: 978-1-3165-1961-5 (Hardcover)
How crucial a role are protesters playing in restoring democracy to Sudan?
Clashes between protesters and security forces have left at least eight people dead and 170 wounded. Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan is now the acting head of state. Dr Andrew E Yaw Tchie from the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs weighs in.
Can Sudan go "back to what it was" following latest coup?
Sudan's Prime Minister and most of his cabinet have been arrested by military forces in a coup. It comes after weeks of rising tensions between the country's civilian and military leaders.
Sudan: Int'l community concerned over reported coup
The arrest of the civilian leadership in Sudan follows more than a week of two kinds of protests; one group calling for the military to take over, while the pro-democracy group wants the military prevented from taking over.
Assessing the Effectiveness of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and The Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary- Ge...
This report assesses the extent to which the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) along with the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary- General on Cyprus (OSASG) – also called the mission of the Good Offices – is achieving its mandate enshrined in Resolution 164 of March 1964. In 2024, the UN Missions in Cyprus will celebrate the 60th anniversary of their presence in the country, and it seems timely to analyse their impact and effectiveness over the years. The EPON report looks for the first time at what the peacekeeping research community has called “legacy operations”, those born during the Cold War and still in place today. UNFICYP is the eighth peacekeeping mission created since 1948. The report looks also at the interaction between peacekeeping and peacemaking in the context of a frozen conflict, often referred to by researchers and scholars as the “Cyprus problem”. Cyprus is a unique case in international relations and peace operations. Its capital city is the only remaining divided capital in Europe and in the world. Cyprus is the only country in the world to have “Guarantors” with a right to intervene and station troops on a permanent basis. The report acknowledges the role of prevention of UNFICYP to the extent that the people in Cyprus tend to forget that no cease-fire agreement exists between the parties. Peacekeeping has been successful at creating a comfortable status quo that peacemaking has yet been unable to break down. In this context, the lack of will from the parties to engage in a meaningful political process has limited the UN’s effectiveness.
‘It’s us or them’: How Sudanese generals sacrificed civilian politicians to save their own necks
Fear that political reform would weaken the military’s grip on Sudan society led to the coup, writes Ahmed Aboudouh. Senior Research Fellow Dr. Andrew E. Yaw Tchie weighs in.
Line Marie Breistrand
Line Marie Breistrand is a doctoral student and works with China in international politics. In her doctoral project, she analyzes China's foreign...