Publikasjoner
The Arctic Council and US domestic policymaking
One widely recognized achievement of the Arctic Council and its various working groups has been the production of collectively generated assessments on Arctic problems. Assessment reports such as the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) provide an important baseline of shared knowledge for making collective circumpolar policy recommendations. But how does the knowledge produced through Arctic Council working groups figure into the policymaking of the Arctic states? This is an important question for understanding Arctic politics and the relationship between national decisionmaking and international relations more generally. Much of what the Arctic Council produces is in the form of recommendations, declarations of intent, and commitments to "best practices" in areas of shared interest and activity. While in recent years the Council has produced three binding agreements covering specific functional areas—search and rescue (2011), oil pollution preparedness and response (2013),and science cooperation (2017)—much ongoing Arctic collaborative work falls outside of these areas. This policy brief explores how science/policy outputs of and discussions at the Arctic Council fit into the Arctic political discourse of the USA, with an emphasis on key actors within the executive branch: the White House, the Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’: three levels of judicial control over the CFSP
By examining possible forms of judicial control over CFSP at different levels (‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’), this chapter aims to discuss the Court’s approach to the system of judicial control over the CFSP and to provide a holistic picture of possibilities and pitfalls. Having recalled the post-Lisbon developments in the CJEU’s jurisdiction in relation to the CFSP, the present contribution thus asks whether and, if so, to what extent remaining gaps in the Court’s control can be filled by involving other courts: both internally at Member States level, and externally by involving international and/or third countries’ courts. Our main argument is that the Court’s suspicion in relation to alternative judicial oversight may be legitimate. Yet acknowledged gaps in the EU system of judicial remedies in relation to the CFSP ought to be filled for the Union to meet the requirements of the rule of law.
New war zones or evolving modes of insurgency warfare?
This chapter argues that new war zones are neither substantially new nor incomprehensible. It is only our approaches that all too often make us avoid seeing the obvious: people take up arms because they are angry, scared, poor, or short of other livelihood opportunities. On the one hand, regional ‘big men’ operate in a downward direction to capitalise on local grievances, largely for their own benefit. On the other hand, one can witness the evolution of local defence forces/militias moving upwards and becoming intertwined in larger networks and markets (and, in the process, producing new regional big men). A political anthropology of new war zones is therefore confronted by a field of constant flux and fragmentation, where the important dimension to keep track of is less the very agents of violence but the nodal points in these networks of governance and violence, and their ability to maintain networks across space and time.
The potential and limits of peace agreements: Colombia and Mali
In most cases, political solutions to armed conflicts are professed by a plethora of local, regional and international actors. In practice, however, durable political solutions – typically symbolised through peace agreements – are scarce. While peace agreements may be signed, political willingness, as well as the ability to implement them, is often in short supply. Hence, many peace agreements remain words on paper, not actions in the field. This is also the case in Africa, where many conflict areas see peace agreements being signed, violated and forgotten. This article examines the 2015 peace agreement in Mali and the case of the 2016 peace agreement in Colombia. The 2015 Bamako Agreement for Mali – despite hopes to end armed violence and provide a framework for peace – has had little impact on the ground and serves to illustrate some of the limitations of peace agreements. Does the commonly considered successful case of Colombia shed light on the struggling Malian peace process? This article suggests that the Colombian peace process does provide useful insights into the challenges in Mali. This is discussed in the context of what, with whom and when to negotiate. Following this analysis, some lessons learnt are identified, along with concluding remarks on how these two cases illustrate both the potential and limits of peace agreements.
For the greater good?: “Good states” turning UN peacekeeping towards counterterrorism
The usual suspects of middle power internationalism—small and middle powers such as Canada, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden—have all contributed to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA). This article argues that while these and other Western countries’ contributions to MINUSMA may still be characterized as investments into UN peacekeeping reform and a rule-governed world order, the liberal underpinnings of that commitment are withering. Instead, these countries seek to enhance their own status. This is done by gaining appreciation for their contributions, primarily from the US; strengthening their bids for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council; and self-interested contributions to reformUNpeacekeeping by efforts to enable it to confront violent extremism and terrorism. Paradoxically, the article concludes, when moving the UN towards counterterrorism and weakening the legitimacy of the organization, Western states undermine a cornerstone of their own security.
Norwegian exports in global value chains
This study analyses the participation of the Norwegian economy in global value chains in 2000-2014, following the gross exports decomposition framework in Koopman, Wang and Wei (2014) and using the World Input-Output Database (WIOD). The analysis shows that Norway increased its participation in global value chains through both backward and forward linkages, but the latter is more dominant and re ects Norway's endowments in natural resources. Moreover, the study reveals that services exports increased substantially during the period analysed and are even higher than manufacturing exports if measured in value-added terms rather than gross terms. This highlights the key role of services in global value chains as well as the relevance of measuring trade in value-added terms.
Kampen om Europa
EUs idéhistoriske fundament ble bygget etter andre verdenskrig for å unngå en slik krig for all fremtid. Den franske utenriksministeren Robert Schuman startet EU-prosjektet ved å samordne de militært relevante europeiske kull- og stålindustriene, og innsatsen var allerede fra starten motivert av ønsket om fred og sikkerhet på kontinentet. Det var også for rollen som fredsprosjekt at EU fikk den kontroversielle fredsprisen i 2012. Selv om sikkerhet har vært sentralt i tenkningen om EU, har sikkerhets- og forsvarspolitikk vært «den stygge andungen» i forsøkene på tettere integrasjon. EU er gradvis blitt mer integrert gjennom traktater, men sikkerhetspolitisk samarbeid er blitt nedprioritert. Det har sin naturlige forklaring i at saksområdet har vært krevende å samordne. Sikring av ytre grenser og forsvar av territorium har vært kjernen av hva det vil si å være en suveren stat. Europa er et nasjonalstatens kontinent, tross EU.