Challenges in deploying effective police to international peace operations
This paper examines the challenges of deploying and using adequately prepared and appropriate skilled police personnel in UN peace operations. It approaches this issue primarily, although not exclusively, through the prism of training. It briefly describes changes in the demand for and role of police in contemporary peace operations, and the existing system of recruitment, selection and training of police peacekeepers. It then considers four types of problems encountered in deploying effective police personnel in the areas of supply of personnel, skillsets, predeployment training, and performance. The paper holds that problems in these interconnected areas undermine the effectiveness and impact of police components in peace operations. While the UN has made some important efforts to improve recruitment and selection of police peacekeepers, and to standardize peacekeeping training of police prior to deployment, both selection and training standards continue to be inconsistently applied and inadequate. Resolving the perpetual problem of getting police peacekeepers with the needed capabilities deployed to missions will require more than simple technical fixes; the human resources challenge for police (as well as military and civilian personnel) in UN operations goes beyond recruitment and training to include questions of effective guidance, management, resourcing, and the monitoring and evaluation of peacekeeper performance to support institutional learning and adjustment of recruitment and training processes. The problem is complex and multifaceted, not least because the UN is an international organization with management challenges that are distinct from those encountered by national public service organizations. The UN’s organizational structures and processes themselves require attention. Solutions call for commitment and corrective action by PCCs, UN HQ, and the leadership of UN field missions. The paper contributes to broader ongoing discussions about what is required to improve the impact and effectiveness of peacekeeping personnel, and of peace operations more broadly.
Partidebatt - val 2017: Kva står på spel i utanrikspolitikken?
I ei verd prega av endringar, meir uvisse og konfliktar, har det mykje å seie for Noreg kva utanrikspolitikk vi vel å føre. Så kva står på spel i utanrikspolitikken i valet 11. september? Kvar står partia på dei viktigaste utanrikspolitiske sakene? Og kva tenkjer folket om dei?
Hva skal Forsvaret forsvare?
- Faren er stor for at vi bygger et forsvar som ikke er optimalt, og i verste fall irrelevant for de potensielle truslene vi står overfor, skriver Karsten Friis i DN.
Identity Politics and the East China Sea: China as Japan's 'Other'
This article contributes to the relational IR literature on identity politics and Sino-Japanese relations. Theoretically, we develop Rumelili's 2004 framework for studying modes of differentiation by incorporating the sectoral characteristics of key discourse signs. Empirically, we apply this framework to the construction of Self and Other in the official Japanese security discourse regarding the Senkaku Islands dispute from 2010–2014, a period of dispute climax that is meaningful for studying the (re)production of Japan's understanding of China. The inclusiveness of the discourse signs that Japan uses to construct China possibly opens up for a positive evolution of Sino-Japanese relations, as there is space for progress if China's behavior—and Japan's interpretation of it—proves to be more peaceful, transparent, and law-abiding. The findings also suggest, however, that the strong sense of superiority in Japan (and China) vis-à-vis a subordinate Other may not bode well for Sino-Japanese relations.
Cyber som ein strategisk dimensjon i den nasjonale tryggleiken – eit israelsk perspektiv
Talet på politisk motiverte cyberangrep aukar internasjonalt. Slike angrep kan føre til alvorleg skade på kritisk infrastruktur og sensitive tryggingsorganisasjonar. Derfor blir rekna cyber no ofte som det femte domenet for krigføring og forsvar, ved sida av land, sjø, luft og det ytre rommet.
LUNSJFOREDRAG: Nye medium, ny verda? Korleis forstå rolla til teknologien i ekstremistanes, propagandaens og “falske nyheiters” tidsalder.
Kva har nye kanalar for medium og kommunikasjon å seie for politikk og samfunn?
Geopolitikk og fornybar energi
Ulf Sverdrup skriver i DN om hva et grønt skifte kan bety for geopolitikken.
Norway and the European Economic Area: Good Deal or Just an EU Rule-Taker?
'After more than 20 years in the European Economic Area (EEA), it may look as if this remains the solution for Norway – part of the EU's single market but not an actual EU member state. There is no great political push to change Norway's status for now but there are still debates on the political, economic and institutional pluses and minuses of being on the margins of the EU not at its heart, skriver Ole Gunnar Austvik i denne kronikken.