Outsidership and the European Neighbourhood Policy. The case of Norway
This paper examines how and to what extent Norway adapts to and is affected by the European Union’s policy towards its neighbours in the East. In line with the overall topic of the special issue, it investigates how Norway handles its ‘outsidership’ when formulating its policies towards Union’s Eastern partner countries that have signed Association Agreements with the EU (Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova). While Norway is not an EU member, it is still highly integrated in to most of the Union’s policy areas. It even has the habit of signing up to most of the EU’s declarations on foreign policy. However, the European Neighbourhood Policy is one of the policy areas where Norway is not participating. This means that it has the liberty to choose a different approach than the EU in its bilateral relations with these countries. Thus, this paper investigates what kind of balance Norway seeks between autonomy and integration in relation to the ENP partner countries. As this article shows, Norway seem to align itself to the policies of the EU also in this area, sometimes even without the Norwegian officials being fully aware of the extent to which this is happening.
Burden-sharing in NATO. The Trump effect won’t last
The Trump Administration has adopted a more confrontational and transactional approach to burden-sharing in NATO. It has threatened to “moderate” its commitment to the Alliance unless the European members increase their defence spending (US Mission to NATO 2017), and contribute more to out-of-area operations. Since President Trump entered the office, European defence spending has risen at a quicker pace, and the nature of the defence debate in Europe has changed. The Europeans are no longer debating whether they need to increase their spending; the questions discussed are how fast and how much. Is this evidence of a “Trump effect”, and will it last? This is the question addressed in this policy brief. Because it is hard to predict the future, we adopt an historical perspective.
AVLYST: Lunsjforedrag: Hacking for Homeland: Palestinsk motstand i den digitale tidsalderen
Grunna ufortsette hendingar må vi dessverre avlyse dette arrangementet.
Russland: Hvor reell er trusselen og hvordan bør Norge forholde seg til den?
Hvordan skal vi vurdere om Russland er en trussel? Og hvordan blir Russland en trussel? Her kan du lese - eller høre - seniorforsker Julie Wilhelmsens foredrag i Oslo Militære Samfund fra 23. oktober.
PODKAST: Utenrikspolitikk i de falske nyhetenes tid
Hvor stort problem er propaganda og falske nyheter?
KRONIKK: Ytre høyre, foren eder
Ytre høyre forfekter nasjonalstaten, men er stadig mer internasjonale, skriver Minda Holm.
Korleis missa ein milliard: Afrikas tap frå gruveindustrien
Ressursrike land klarer ofte ikkje å sikre seg ein rettferdig del av naturressursformuane sine. Don Hubert har i ”Korleis missa ein milliard” utarbeidd eit rammeverk for å vurdere inntektsrisiko. I rapporten er det også ei omfattande samling av ”real-world case studies” designet for å hjelpe ressurrike land med å stoppe skattesvik.
Nepal: A Political Economy Analysis
This report is an integrated political economy analysis of Nepal. The main finding is that economic growth and poverty reduction have been steady in Nepal since the mid-1980s independently of a number of political upheavals, including ten years of civil war. The growth has been driven by remittances and an upward pressure on wages in local labor markets. As a result, poverty has declined and social indicators have improved. Despite the availability of private capital and increases in wages for the poor, there is still a massive need for public investments in infrastructure, agriculture, health, and education. In the political domain the recent local elections will reintroduce local democracy after 20 years. Elected local politicians are expected to boost local development efforts. The leading political forces in Nepal are the political parties. There are close links between politicians and business leaders, the political parties control the trade-unions, have links to civil society organizations, and the parties select high-level government officials. The civil war and the post-war ethnic uprising led to demands for an ethnic based federal republic. A compromise federal map was decided in 2015, with provincial elections scheduled for the fall of 2017. There are concerns that the ethnic agenda may escalate ethnic conflicts, and it will be essential for all parties to work for participation of all social groups within the recently established local units, as well as in the economy at large.
Strengthening the Peace and Governance Nexus within the African Union. Enhancing synergy between the African Governance Architecture (AGA) and the...
The vision of the African Union (AU) is to achieve “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena”. The attainment of that vision hinges on three foundational imperatives: democratic governance, peace and security, and sustainable development. The focus of this report is on the interlinkages between democratic governance on the one hand and peace and security on the other. The report examines the two overarching mechanisms that were established by the AU to strengthen democratic governance and attain peace and security; namely the African Governance Architecture (AGA) and the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA).