Norske svar på internasjonale utfordringer: Retorisk endring, stabilitet i tiltak

Norsk utenrikspolitikk omtales ofte som preget av konsensus og stabilitet, hvor kobling til NATO og USA, støtte til FN, og en aktiv europapolitikk er hovedelementer. Inspirert av innsikter fra institusjonell teori om «organisert hykleri» – altså hvordan organisasjoner ofte må frikoble tale og handling – analyserer vi norsk utenrikspolitikk. Vi finner at det er tendenser til slikt integrert flertydighet, som ikke er overraskende gitt de motstridende krav og forventninger som preger våre omgivelser. Vi peker på hvordan et slikt perspektiv kan bidra til kritisk refleksjon rundt effektivitet i ulike virkemidler, og diskuterer også hvordan dette preger tilnærmingen til «Norden», som del av den utenrikspolitiske verktøykassen.

Introduksjon: Nordiske svar på geopolitiske utfordringer

Denne artikkelen introduserer et temanummer om hvordan de fem nordiske landene – Danmark, Finland, Island, Norge og Sverige – fremstiller og responderer på geopolitiske utfordringer i sine omgivelser. Nordens strategiske beliggenhet – i Europas nordlige utkant, med grense mot Russland på den ene siden og store havområder på den andre – gjør at endringer i sikkerhetspolitikken og i maktbalansen mellom stormaktene er av umiddelbar relevans. Artiklene drøfter hovedtrekk ved de nordiske landenes nåværende utenrikspolitikk, hver for seg, men til dels også sammen, sett i lys både av historiske linjer og nåværende geopolitiske rammebetingelser. Med særlig vekt på de enkelte lands relasjoner til stormaktene USA, Russland, EU og Kina, og til sikkerhetsinstitusjonene FN og NATO, fremhever bidragene noen særtrekk ved den hjemlige utenrikspolitiske debatten i de enkelte land, og kartlegger hvilke ressurser og virkemidler det enkelte land typisk velger å ta i bruk i møte med ulike utfordringer.

Kazakhstan: Civil Society and Natural Resource Policy in Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, civil society is held back and has had a limited role in the management of the petroleum sector. As this chapter notes, civil society has had little experience of promoting its own interests vis-à-vis the state, and public discussion of natural resource issues has been mainly government-driven. The fact that Kazakhstan made a notable step forward—from being a collapsing socialist economy in the 1990s to becoming a regional economic player with improved social and economic performance—has helped to legitimize non-transparent natural resource policies. As long as the socio-economic situation continues to improve or remains stable, the non-transparent management of natural resources is likely to be accepted by the population, which, like the Russian population, puts a premium on stability. The relative passivity of civil society has been compensated by Kazakhstan’s exposure to international initiatives and organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and numerous UN agencies. As in Azerbaijan, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has provided a platform for some civil society engagement with industry and government.

Brexit Means Br(EEA)Xit: The UK withdrawal from the EU and its implications for the EEA

Because it extends the Single Market to the three EFTA States Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, the Agreement on the European Economic Area is not an EU external agreement comme les autres. This is particularly salient in the context of the UK withdrawal from the EU. The UK withdrawal will affect the three EFTA States’ citizens, businesses and other stakeholders in a way that is comparable to how it will affect citizens, businesses and other stakeholders from the remaining EU Member States. It is thus critical that the two intertwined processes of leaving the EU (“Brexit”) and consequently the EEA (“Br(EEA)xit”) are closely coordinated if the integrity of the Single Market is to be preserved, in line with EEA rules. The need for coordination between the EU, the UK and the three EFTA States to address the consequences of Brexit for the EEA is a foretaste, albeit specific, of the complex external implications of the UK withdrawal from all other EU external agreements.

The cyber frontier and digital pitfalls in the Global South

How does digitalisation lead to new kinds of global connections and disconnections in the Global South? And what are the pitfalls that accompany this development? Much of the policy literature on digitalisation and development has focused on the importance of connecting developing countries to digital networks. Good connection to digital networks may have a fundamental impact on societies, changing not only how individuals and businesses navigate, operate and seek opportunities, but also as regards relations between government and the citizenry. However, the rapid pace of this development implies that digital technologies are being put to use before good, functional regulatory mechanisms have been developed and installed. The resultant shortcomings – in state mechanisms, institutions, coordination mechanisms, private mechanisms, general awareness, public knowledge and skills – open the door to new kinds of vulnerabilities. Herein lie dangers, but also opportunities for donor/recipient country exchange. Instead of adding to the already substantial literature on the potential dividends, this article examines a less studied issue: the new societal vulnerabilities emerging from digitalisation in developing countries. While there is wide agreement about the need to bridge the gap between the connected and the disconnected, the pitfalls are many.

The Russian Far East and Russian Security Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region

Russia's Turn to the East - Domestic Policymaking and Regional Cooperation

This book is open access under a CC BY license. This book explores if and how Russian policies towards the Far East region of the country – and East Asia more broadly – have changed since the onset of the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Following the 2014 annexation and the subsequent enactment of a sanctions regime against the country, the Kremlin has emphasized the eastern vector in its external relations. But to what extent has Russia’s 'pivot to the East' intensified or changed in nature – domestically and internationally – since the onset of the current crisis in relations with the West? Rather than taking the declared 'pivot' as a fact and exploring the consequences of it, the contributors to this volume explore whether a pivot has indeed happened or if what we see today is the continuation of longer-duration trends, concerns and ambitions.

Parental Child Abduction and the State: Identity, Diplomacy and the Duty of Care

States alternate between the roles of ‘caretaker’ and ‘rescuer’ when providing care to citizens abroad. This article suggests that they are more likely to assume the ‘rescuer’ role when core values underpinning their self-identity are at stake. This dynamic is explored by examining a case where a Norwegian mother re-abducted her two children from Morocco. In the process, Norway’s foreign minister authorized shielding the children at the Norwegian Embassy in Rabat, citing ‘Norway’s duty to protect two Norwegian minors in fear of their lives’. A diplomatic conflict between Norway and Morocco followed. The Norwegian response must be seen in light of Norway’s self-identity as a frontrunner for children’s rights. Ultimately, helping the children ‘had’ to trump concerns about diplomatic costs. The broader dilemmas that this case exemplifies should be relevant also to other cases where a state’s concern for a child citizen is pitted against its obligation to diplomatic conventions.

The UN at War: Peace Operations in a New Era

This book is a critical political and institutional reflection on UN peace operations. It provides constructive suggestions as to how the UN and the international system can evolve to remain relevant and tackle the peace and security challenges of the 21st century, without abandoning the principles that the UN was founded upon and on which the legitimacy of UN peace operations rests. The author analyses the evolving politics on UN peace operations of the five veto powers of the UN Security Council, as well as major troop-contributing countries and western powers. He investigates the move towards peace enforcement and counter-terrorism, and what consequences this development may have for the UN. Karlsrud issues a challenge to practitioners and politicians to make sure that the calls for reform are anchored in a desire to improve the lives of people suffering in conflicts on the ground—and not spurred by intra-organizational turf battles or solely the narrow self-interests of member states. Finally, he asks how the UN can adapt its practices to become more field- and people-centered, in line with its core, primary commitments of protecting and serving people in need. “An excellent resource for researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and students, this work provides a very useful analysis on the past, present and future of peace missions, as well as how they have and could face the challenges of today’s world.” —Séverine Autesserre, Associate Professor, Barnard College,Columbia University, USA “The international community and the new Secretary-General will have a chance to initiate meaningful, transformative reforms in the way the United Nations addresses social, political and security challenges; the road map is provided by John Karlsrud, highly recommended to all international peace and security academics and practitioners.” —José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former President and Prime Minister of Timor Leste “This is the most current, up-to-date assessment of UN Peace Operations available. A must-read for both analysts and practitioners of peacekeeping.” —Lise Morjé Howard, Georgetown University, USA