Forsvar og sikkerhet

EU-Supported Reforms in the EU Neighbourhood as Organized Anarchies: The Case of Post-Maidan Ukraine

How does the EU and its member states organize their support for reforms in the countries of the EU Neighbourhood? Building on organization theory research on reforms as sets of loosely coupled ‘garbage can’ processes, we conceptualize the ENP induced reform processes as an organized framework connecting the reform capacities of not only the EU institutions but also EU member-state governments. We apply this approach to Ukraine in the post-Maidan period. We focus on the interplay between EU-level reform capacities and the capacities of two member states highly active in Ukraine, namely Germany and Sweden. As this case illustrates, the current approach provides a complementary perspective to mainstream approaches to the study of the EU’s external governance as it offers partial explanations of how organizational processes may impact on the efficiency of reforms promoted by the EU and its member states in the neighbouring countries.

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.

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

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