Publikasjoner
Plugging the capability-expectations gap: towards effective, comprehensive and conflict-sensitive EU crisis response?
Since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the European Union (EU) has spent considerable time and energy on defining and refining its comprehensive approach to external conflicts. The knock-on effects of new and protracted crises, from the war in Ukraine to the multi-faceted armed conflicts in the Sahel and the wider Middle East, have made the improvement of external crisis-response capacities a top priority. But has the EU managed to plug the capability–expectations gap, and develop an effective, comprehensive and conflict sensitive crisis-response capability? Drawing on institutional theory and an approach developed by March and Olsen, this article analyses whether the EU has the administrative capacities needed in order to be an effective actor in this area and implement a policy in line with the established goals and objectives identified in its comprehensive approach.
Gender-Discriminatory Laws and Women’s Economic Agency
Recent years have seen widespread advances in women’s legal rights in many countries. In other places, restrictions on women’s autonomy remain entrenched. This study explores cross-country patterns in the association between gender-discriminatory legislation and various indicators of women’s economic agency. We find that restrictions on legal capacity predict women’s asset ownership and labor force participation, while discrimination in wage work and parental leave are associated with the size and direction of wage gaps. These findings highlight the importance of conceptualizing and measuring legal rights and their potential effects as multidimensional.
EU-NATO inter-organizational relations in counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa
The track record of military rapid response mechanisms, troops on standby, ready to be deployed to a crisis within a short time frame by intergovernmental organizations, remains disappointing. Yet, many of the obstacles to multinational actors launching a rapid and effective military response in times of crisis are largely similar. This book is the first comprehensive and comparative contribution to explore and identify the key factors that hamper and enable the development and deployment of multinational rapid response mechanisms. Examining lessons from deployments by the AU, the EU, NATO, and the UN in the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia and counter-piracy in the Horn of Africa, the contributors focus upon the following questions: Was there a rapid response to the crises? By whom? If not, what were the major obstacles to rapid response? Did inter-organizational competition hinder responsiveness? Or did cooperation facilitate responsiveness? Bringing together leading scholars working in this area offers a unique opportunity to analyze and develop lessons for policy-makers and for theorists of inter-organizational relations. This work will be of interest to scholars and students of peacebuilding, peacekeeping, legitimacy and international relations.
Military Offensive Cyber-Capabilities: Small-State Perspectives
This Policy Brief provides an overview of the military cyber-defence strategies and capabilities of Norway and of the Netherlands. Comparison of the two different approaches offers insights into their differing tactics and future policy directions. The Brief contributes with a small-state perspective on this malleable and constantly changing field, nuancing the hitherto US-centred debate on the utility and need for deterrence and defence in cyberspace.
Russian Governance of the North Caucasus: Dilemmas of force and inclusion
While Vladimir Putin’s Russia struggles to strike a balance between security and freedom within the Russian polity, nowhere is the problem as acute as in the eastern parts of the North Caucasus. This chapter reviews Russia’s approach to the republics in that region since Putin came to power, and asks what the potential for mobilisation against Russian rule in the North Caucasus amounts to. The current decrease in violence in the region is often taken as a sign of ‘success’ in curbing the insurgency. I argue that the heavy focus on repression and exclusion in Russian policies may well backfire and create conditions for a new mobilisation against Russian dominance.
Norden i verden
Hver for seg er de nordiske landene relativt små, men sammen er de på størrelse med en stormakt. Og med en verdenspolitikk i endring er samarbeidet mellom disse statene enda viktigere enn på lenge.
Islamic Insurgents in the MENA Region. Global Threat or Regional Menace?
This working paper analyses a broad range of Islamic insurgents, spanning from the Sahel and North Africa to the Middle East, examining the threat that these groups represent on a regional and global scale. We assess their local, regional and global strategies and evaluate the extent to which they make use of Jihadist discourse to further local/regional aims, or whether they are more truly devoted to a global struggle, operationally as well as in discourse and rhetoric. We make use of several analytical dimensions and factors in a way that allows us to develop a threat assessment that seeks to disentangle the local, the regional and the global levels. In doing so, our aim is also to develop a methodological framework that may be used for analytical updates and future research in this region and elsewhere.
Resolving Brexit
Brexit is in crisis. The options are limited, and they have not changed much since 2016. Now, time is running out. Exiting the EU without an agreement, widely recognized as the worst option, is the default. Moreover, this is no longer simply a question about how to deal with the EU. Brexit is a test of whether a democratic political system can resolve difficult and divisive issues in a credible and robust way. The stakes are therefore high. Themes Europe The EU Diplomacy International organizations Researchers Ulf Sverdrup Director BI Nick Sitter Professor, BI Norwegian Business School Events Fri 25 Jan 2019 Europe through the Russian TV lens Time: 09:00 Location: NUPI What images of Europe does Russian TV convey to its viewers? What are the dominant Russian media narratives on Europe? Wed 6 Feb 2019 Chinese cyber security and consequences for Europe All events about Europe, the eu, diplomacy, international organizations (total 4) There is now a genuine risk that the political system in the UK tears itself apart, or at least inflicts deep and lasting scars on itself, and ends up with a solution that very few would prefer. As long as Brexit is exclusively a Conservative project, or even exclusively Theresa May’s project, this impasse is unlikely to be broken. What to do? The most obvious way of moving beyond the present stalemate is to establish a cross-party task force.
Stormaktsinteresser og sikkerhetspolitiske utviklingstrekk i Arktis. Mulige implikasjoner for Norge
Arktis blir i økende grad trukket inn i de generelle politiske utviklingstrekkene globalt. Ser vi endringene i stormaktenes intensjoner, kapabiliteter og adferd under ett, avtegner det seg et tydelig bilde: regionen prioriteres høyere av så godt som samtlige aktører, den forventes å bli viktigere i økonomisk sammenheng, og den militære betydningen av regionen er økende. Denne policy brief-en ser på implikasjoner for norsk sikkerhetspolitikk i Arktis og gir noen anbefalinger til norske myndigheter
The Civilian Casualty Tracking Analysis and Response Cell in the African Union Mission in Somalia: an emerging best practice for AU peace support o...
The Civilian Casualty Tracking Analysis and Response Cell (CCTARC) tracks harm to civilians caused by the African Union Mission in Somalia’s (AMISOM) operations including death, injury, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and damage to property including livestock. The cell faces three main types of challenges: • Structural: the sectoral composition of AMISOM hinders effective exchange of information. • Operational: there is no fund to pay amends to victims. • Political: in the midst of competing strategic pressures, the CCTARC has not been adequately prioritised by the mission, African Union Commission, Troop Contributing Countries, and donors.