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.
The new oil? The geopolitics and international governance of hydrogen
While most hydrogen research focuses on the technical and cost hurdles to a full-scale hydrogen economy, little consideration has been given to the geopolitical drivers and consequences of hydrogen developments. The technologies and infrastructures underpinning a hydrogen economy can take markedly different forms, and the choice over which pathway to take is the object of competition between different stakeholders and countries. Over time, cross-border maritime trade in hydrogen has the potential to fundamentally redraw the geography of global energy trade, create a new class of energy exporters, and reshape geopolitical relations and alliances between countries. International governance and investments to scale up hydrogen value chains could reduce the risk of market fragmentation, carbon lock-in, and intensified geo-economic rivalry.
China and South Asia Crisis Management in the Era of Great Power Competition
Until very recently, China had been seen as an important and constructive force in the crisis management in South Asia in the event of an India-Pakistan military crisis. Part of the perception originated from historical evidence, such as China’s shuttle diplomacy between India and Pakistan after 1998, and such as after the 2008 Mumbai attack. But more importantly, the perception is based on the belief that China, with its vast stake in the region’s peace and stability, will be objective in its assessment and management of the crisis, even if it may not be completely neutral between India and Pakistan. Following that logic, the increasing risk to which China is exposed due to its Belt and Road investments and infrastructure development in the region will draw China even more into third-party crisis management in South Asia. This belief has become increasingly challenged due to the shifting power balance in the region and, more broadly, among China, the United States (U.S.), and India in their trilateral interactions. Although China is interested in preventing a nuclear war, under that threshold, its interest in crisis management is constantly subject to its definition of its national interest in the changing regional power balance and great power dynamics. With the deepening U.S.-China great power rivalry, the growing signs of alignment between the U.S. and India, as well as a weakening Pakistan, the foundation of China’s policy towards South Asia—a perceived balance of power between India and Pakistan and China’s advantage as a superior third party—is disappearing rapidly. With the deteriorating U.S.-China relations and great power competition, China’s instinct is to preserve its strategic leverage. In addition, with the border skirmishes between China and India continuing to flare up, China itself might become a party to the regional conflict.
Mitigating Perceived Threats in Russian and Norwegian Public Discourse (THREAT-DEFUSER)
THREAT-DEFUSER integrates state-of-the-art political science, linguistics, and media studies methods to forge a new multidisciplinary approach to hybrid warfare. The primary objective is long term str...
Responsible Innovation and Happiness: A New Approach to the Effects of ICTs (HAPPY)
The project intends to contribute to the responsible innovation literature by carrying out a set of conceptual and empirical studies on the socio-economic effects of ICTs, considering positive impacts...
Presidentvalg i Polen
Interview on the main issues in Polish politics on the eve of the first round in presidential elections on 28 June 2020.
Russland landet fallskjermjegere i Arktis: – Ingen har gjort dette før oss
Comments on Russian military activity in the Arctic and Russian paratroopers' military excercises in the region
Polen: Avholdt valg med null prosent valgdeltagelse
Comments on cancelled presidential elections in Poland to be held on 10 May 2020
Politisk valgthriller: Sittende president leder knapt
Comments on the ongoing second round of presidential elections in Poland on 12 July 2020
Hvilke sikkerhetspolitiske utfordringer står Norge overfor? Russland som trussel mot Norge
Russia foreign and security policy since Putin came to power with an emphasis on relations with the West. The recent emergence of a new Cold War in the High North and challenges for Norwegian security.