Stater og transnasjonale motstandsnettverk: Irans mobilisering av irakiske sjiamilitser etter 1979
The Islamic Republic of Iran has been building a transnational network of Shi’a militias since 1979, commonly referred to as its asymmetric warfare capability and ‘strategic depth’. While it is a known fact that Iran has mobilised Shi’a militias in other countries to strengthen its regional position, how they have done it has not received much scholarly attention. The objective of this paper is to explain this phenomenon by examining how Iran has mobilised Iraqi Shi’a militias since 1979. The selected cases are the mobilisation processes of three most prominent Shi’a militias in Iraq today: Badr Organisation, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, and Kata’ib Hizbullah. Although variation exists between them, they are all cases of Iran’s network of armed resistance groups, which have allowed it to engage in covert or indirect conflict intervention in the Middle East. To logically connect the empirical data with the study’s research question, I have used a case study research design, with process tracing and the semi-structured interview as methods for data collection. Furthermore, the empirical analysis has been guided by a theoretical framework that has attempted to build a bridge between the existing literatures on state-militia dynamics and contentious politics.
How UN Peacekeeping Operations Can Adapt to a New Multipolar World Order
How will United Nations peacekeeping operations adapt to the transition from a unipolar to a multipolar world order? The paper considers emerging dynamics in three areas that may suggest how UN peacekeeping are likely to be affected by a changing world order, namely strategic political coherence, the employment of force, and the outer limits of peace operations. It points out that one of the enduring characteristics of UN peacekeeping has been the resilience of its identity. Another has been the continuous evolution of the specific manifestations of that identity into practice. UN peacekeeping have thus shown a remarkable capacity to continuously adapt to new challenges over the past 70 plus years, and there is no evidence to suggest that it will not continue to do so into the future.
NUPI experts on the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Abiy Ahmed for his efforts for peace and international cooperation, and especially for the initiative to solve the border conflict with Ethiopia’s neighbouring state Eritrea.
Local Drivers of Violent Extremism in Central Mali
This policy brief examines the processes of violent extremist mobilisation and radicalisation in Mopti, Central Mali. Specifically, it looks at the strategies employed by one of the most salient radical jihadist groups in the region, the Katiba Macina. It seeks to answer the following questions: 1) Given that violent extremist mobilisation has not taken root uniformly across regions in Mali, and because it is often endogenous to local dynamics, how has Mopti as a region become an enabling environment for jihadist actors like the Katiba Macina? 2) How do groups like the Katiba Macina mobilise local support and integrate themselves among communities? 3) Why do individuals join, adhere to or accept the Katiba Macina?
Migration and Development: Sharing knowledge between Norway and Poland (MiDeShare)
The aim of this project is to improve our understanding of the relationship between migration and development in order to suggest more effective policies for addressing root causes of migration in wea...
Theory Seminar: A Ritual Approach to Deterrence – NATO and its Eastern Flank
In this theory seminar, Maria Mälksoo examines “the fourth wave” of deterrence studies.
New project examines root causes of migration in Africa and the Middle East
What is the relationship between migration and development?
PODCAST: Why populism? Why here? Why now?
Are we living through a populist moment, or is the term just a journalistic cliché?
Tax and fragile states: Challenges for Norwegian development assistance
States need revenue to function and an efficient tax system plays an important role. Can Norwegian development assistance contribute to this?
Top marks for NUPI’s EU project
Reviewers find NUPI-led research on the EU’s crisis response "exceptional"!