KRONIKK: Europeisk samarbeid gir økt nasjonal kontroll
Farvel, Sikkerhetsrådet: Norge trer av
Loss of Tonga’s telecommunication – what happened, how was it managed and what were the consequences?
In January 2022 the subsea volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in Tonga had a major eruption which also cut the country’s communication lines nationally, between Tonga’s inhabited islands and the outside world. The damage led to a complete halt in international communication (a “digital darkness”) which meant that, in the period immediately after the outbreak, not much was known about the extent of the damage in Tonga. Due to very limited access to contact with both the authorities and the population of Tonga, it was only during overflights carried out by the Australian and New Zealand air forces that one could begin to map the extent of the damage and the need for assistance.
The Humanitarian-Development Nexus: A Bridge Too Far?
In their basic and caricature forms, development aid and humanitarian assistance highlight important differences that materialize in attitudinal, institutional, and funding obstacles in the implementation of the humanitarian-development nexus. While the nexus is implemented in order to respond to new types of crises characterised by the protracted nature of the conflicts, cooperation across the aisle has proved hard to achieve in practice. However, policymakers and practitioners have different perspectives on the nexus, and depending on the individual practitioners tasked with implementing the nexus, it can still work. To achieve this, boundary work is needed in order to overcome the distinct segments of the nexus’ constituent parts working in silos. To foster such boundary work, actors responsible for implementing the nexus in practice should be given greater autonomy so that the nexus is better sensitised to local actors, contexts and concerns, rather than being driven by headquarters’ policy demands.
Stakeholder Networks in International Development Projects in the Amazon rainforest
The governance of environmental issues has become a central challenge in world politics. These issues are often complex, thus requiring flows of knowledge and resource from multiple actors across multiple levels. International development cooperation is a channel for these varied sets of actors to join their efforts in concrete projects and policies, allowing for global engagement with local envi- ronmental challenges. It thus can anchor policy networks capable of structuring polycentric modes governance. Yet, empirical research has shown that policy networks are sites of political disputes, (re)producing power rela- tions and affecting the capacity of different social groups to influence relevant outcomes. In this brief, we examine such dynamics in the network of stakeholders involved in development, execution or governance of internationally funded projects in the Amazon.
Frokostseminar: Krigen og forskningen
18. januar inviterer vi til lanseringsseminar av den nye fokusspalten i tidsskriftet Internasjonal Politikk.
Frokostseminar: Tripoli fra islamistisk utopi til den libanesiske revolusjon
Vi inviterer til lansering for Tine Gades nye bok Sunni City: Tripoli from Islamist Utopia to the Lebanese «Revolution».
Makt og avmakt i FNs sikkerhetsråd: Valgte medlemslands veier til innflytelse
FNs sikkerhetsråd består av fem faste og ti valgte medlemsland. Sistnevnte velges på rullerende basis, for to år av gangen. I 2021-22 har Norge vært et av disse valgte medlemslandene. Forskningslitteraturen viser gjerne til hvordan Sikkerhetsrådets handlingsrom begrenses av stormaktsinteresser og maktkampen mellom de fem vetolandene: USA, Kina, Russland, Storbritannia og Frankrike. Russlands angrep på Ukraina anskueliggjort disse utfordringene. I denne policy briefen ser vi nærmere på hvordan valgte medlemsland jobber for å øve innflytelse mens de sitter i Sikkerhetsrådet.
KRONIKK: Krigens fire fronter