WEBINAR: The secrets of al-Qaeda: “The Bin Laden Papers”
Nelly Lahoud has taken a deep dive into Osama Bin Ladens files and looked at his plans for future attacks in her new book on “The Bin Laden Papers”.
Kina balanserer på en tynn line
Kronikk om Kinas balansegang knyttet til krigen i Ukraina.
Self-defence Militias and State Sponsorship in Burkina Faso
Summary: Since 2015-16, Burkina Faso has been engulfed in an ongoing conflict with jihadist insurgent groups active across the Sahel in West Africa. As the conflict escalated, the use of armed militias in Burkina Faso became widespread and was actively sponsored by the State which led to concerns over the militias’ potential to perpetuate conflict. The main reasons are that self-defence militias in Burkina Faso are exacerbating mutual distrust, tension and violence among different communities, while the use and State sponsorship of militias are exposing the civilian population to reprisals from the insurgents who perceive them as a threat. The result is that the previous President, Roch Marc Kaboré, might have done more harm than good by creating self-defence militias under the legal framework of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDPs) adopted unanimously by Burkina Faso’s Parliament in January 2020.
NUPI hosted an Experts’ roundtable on NATO’s new strategic concept
The ban on nuclear weapons: Next Stop Vienna
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is more relevant than ever. What could be expected of the First Meeting of States Parties to the treaty?
Karen Philippa Larsen
Karen Philippa Larsen was a visiting research fellow at NUPI, in the Research group on Russia, Asia and international trade in the spring of 2022.
Extremists with military backgrounds
Extremist infiltration of armed forces, and the spread of violent radicalisation among former soldiers are a growing international concern.
Security debates and partnership choices in the Nordic states: From differentiation to alignment
Summary: What security challenges do the Nordic states highlight in a fluctuating security environment? Towards which partner institutions, networks and states do they orient themselves, and what role do they envision for further Nordic security and defence cooperation? Focusing on Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, this report maps and analyses present-day debates on security and defence in these four states. Examining both official positions and perspectives presented in the wider political and media debates in all four states, a key finding is that their perceptions of the security environment and of key partnerships have become more aligned over the past decade. Further, all four states are woven into a complex web of European and transatlantic initiatives, partnerships and institutions in security and defence. While Finland and Sweden remain outside of NATO and Norway and Iceland outside of the EU, the Nordic states’ participation and degree of integration in European and transatlantic structures is more similar than it used to be. We also observe that the four states appear more aligned than before in their views on how Nordic security and defence cooperation should develop in the future, and for what purpose. While it is still premature to talk about a ‘common Nordic order’ in the security and defence domain, in all four states we find that there is interest in and commitment to further strengthening Nordic security and defence cooperation.
Nordic Cooperation: Drivers and constraints
Remarks at the seminar "Nordic cooperation amid pandemic travel restrictions"
Mental health and radicalization
The possible relationship between mental health and radicalization, extremism and terrorist involvement has received a lot of attention recently. But what do we really know about this relationship?