What's next for Europe?
How should the EU respond to the American ‘pivot’ – the strategic shift towards the Asia-Pacific?
Energy security in Northern Europe and the Baltic region
This roundtable seminar will discuss energy security in Northern Europe and the Balticum, the effects by the Ukraine conflict and how the new European Energy Union will impact energy security efforts.
Ties that Bind: The Emerging Regional Security Complex in the Arctic
The security situation in the Arctic has begun to produce a 'regional security complex' (RSC) based on shared regional strategic concerns. However, the geography and politics of the region will prevent this RSC from taking on a military aspect in the near future.
The SkattJakt conference 2016
What consequences do illicit capital flows have for developing countries? How to prevent multinational corporations from tax evasion? What do tax havens mean for illicit capital flows?
European Integration Reset: Lessons from Brexit, Norway, and Eastern Europe
Given the severity and length of the Great Recession, whether or not Europe needs more or less integration is a much less consequential discussion than that Europe needs better and more effective integration. In this policy brief, we argue that taking stock of the integration experience may be the key to support the search for novel and more effective policy initiatives, resume growth and leave the current crisis behind. The brief presents three historical examples that illustrate the power deep integration has had in propelling the European project. The first demonstrates how deep integration contributed significantly to stop the relative economic decline of the United Kingdom (UK) vis-à-vis the EU founding members. We suggest EU membership played a greater role in this respect than Thatcher’s reforms. The second example displays how deep integration drove increases in labor productivity in Sweden, Austria and Finland (which gained unrestricted access to the Single Market by joining the European Economic Area, EEA, in 1994 and later the EU in 1995) compared to similar developments in Norway (which joined only the EEA in 1994). The third example draws from the experience of the Central European new member members to illustrate that a crucial (yet less appreciated than trade openness, foreign investment and migration) mechanism to these advancements has been the ability of deep integration to increase State capacity and hence to shore up positive institutional change.
Norm Change in International Relations: Linked ecologies in UN peacekeeping operations
In recent decades there have been several constructivist scholars who have looked at how norms change in international relations. However few have taken a closer look at the particular strategies that are employed to further change, or looked at the common factors that have been in play in these processes. This book seeks to further the debates by looking at both agency and structure in tandem. It focuses on the practices of linked ecologies (formal or informal alliances),undertaken by individuals who are the constitutive parts of norm change processes and who have moved between international organizations, academic institutions, think tanks, NGOs and member states. The book sheds new light on how norm change comes about, focusing on the practices of individual actors as well as collective ones. The book draws attention to the role of practices in UN peacekeeping missions and how these may create a bottom–up influence on norm change in UN peacekeeping, and the complex interplay between government and UN officials, applied and academic researchers, and civil society activists forming linked ecologies in processes of norm change. With this contribution, the study further expands the understanding of which actors have agency and what sources of authority they draw on in norm change processes in international organizations. A significant contribution to the study of international organizations and UN peacekeeping, as well as to the broader questions of global norms in IR, this work will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations alike.
UN peacekeeping as a learning organisation : From Brahimi to the HIPPO (2000-2015)
Makt og avmakt i cyberspace: hvordan styre det digitale rom?
A secure cyberspace is a necessity for the functioning of the economic, political and social structures of modern-day society. The stability and development of cyberspace is not preordained, but something that has to be facilitated. Cyberspace is constantly changing and to govern the complex set of interests, agendas and implications multistakeholder initiatives that promote cooperation between the public and private sector and civil society are increasingly put forth as the solution. This form for cooperation is widely seen in the policy community as a panacea for securing cyberspace. While academics have questioned these initiatives’ functionality, few have studied why they do not work in practice. By focusing on the power dynamics between the different actors this article takes a step towards understanding how these dynamics create conflict of interest in governing cyberspace. Through case studies of multistakeholder initiatives on the international level and in Norway, this paper argues that these initiatives are implemented without the necessary preconditions for such a form of governance. This article is published in Norwegian.
In the wake of the crisis
After the Ukraine crisis, the EU’s approach towards Russia has changed, according to results from a NUPI research project.