Publikasjoner
Myths in the Russian Collective Memory: The “Golden Era” of Pre-Revolutionary Russia and the “Disaster of 1917”
This paper examines shared ideas, values and interpretations of the past in the “collective memory” of the 1917 October Revolution. Employing a qualitative approach to examine collective memory “from below,” two age cohorts were interviewed in three Russian cities from a variety of social groups in 2014–2015. What was revealed was the existence of a strong positive myth about the pre-revolutionary era of 1900–1914, as well as positive references to the current Putin era. Both eras were “positive” in that Russia was/is a “normal European power,” “on the rise economically” and “respected by the other powers.” In terms of the definitive national trauma, an overwhelming majority viewed the 1917 October Revolution as a break or rupture in Russian history that caused appalling destruction. This view of 1917 as catastrophic leads to certain key “lessons”: that revolutionary change is inherently destructive and wasteful and that external forces had (and have) a vested interest in weakening Russia from without whenever she is at her most vulnerable. Overall, at the heart of myths over 1917 we find a central occupation with the threat of disintegration and a yearning for stability and normality, highlighting how collective memory interacts with political values and social identity.
Teheran. Revolusjon og reaksjon.
Temaet for kapitlet er Teherans rolle og betydning i et Midtøsten i endring og konflikt. Jeg ser byen som brennpunkt for tre store slag som står i regionen: kampene over Vestens rolle, folkets makt over politiske avgjørelser og islam som samfunnskontrakt. Jeg viser hvordan kampene spilles ut i Teheran, og hvordan de speiler Irans utfordringer som regional makt. Kapitlet drøfter forholdet mellom innen- og utenrikspolitikk og tar konflikten med Saudi-Arabia som eksempel.
Autocratic legitimation in Iran: Ali Khamenei's discourse on regime 'insiders' and 'outsiders'
The article analyses Ali Khamenei’s discourse on insiders and outsiders in the Islamic Republic of Iran, arguing that it shows the leader of an electoral revolutionary regime striving to counter elite fragmentation and growing democratic demands. It studies identity demarcation as a tool of autocratic legitimation. In a political system where the possibility to access political positions depends on supporting a belief-system, all cadres share a basic identity, which rulers can exploit to draw boundaries between “us” and “them”. The analysis reveals how Iran’s leader capitalizes on the existence of an insider-outsider divide to promote ideas about an imagined “we” of the regime. The “we” is portrayed as an Islamic we, fully committed to his rule. The article maintains that Khamenei developed this discourse in response to the challenge of the Iranian reform movement. It analyses, first, the context in which the discourse emerged and, second, the discursive strategy itself, to substantiate the claim. It concludes that the discourse had two essential aims in the containment (1997–2003) and crushing (2009–2010) of the pro-democracy reformist and Green movements: to de-legitimate Khamenei’s opponents through othering and to legitimate the counter-mobilization of repressive agents.
Environmental hazards
Environmental processes and phenomena pervade the planet, affecting day‐to‐day and decade‐to‐decade lives and livelihoods. When they are associated with death and destruction, they are seen as environmental hazards. Defining “environmental hazards” followed by classifying them into astronomical, biological/ecological, geological, and hydrometeorological sets the stage for examining human influences on environmental processes and phenomena, especially illustrating how human activity leads environmental processes and phenomena to become hazardous. Overlaps and connections among the four categories are explored, including cascading hazards, coincidental hazards, and the hazard influencer of climate change. The final section explains the importance of living with environmental hazards rather than trying to oppose or combat them, showing how society can use knowledge of environmental processes and phenomena to avoid harm while garnering advantages.
The Russian Far East and the Northern Sea route in evolving Sino-Russian strategic relations
Diplomatiminister Brende
Denne artikkelen diskuterer Børge Brendes virke som diplomatiminister.
Norsk utenrikspolitikk begynner i Europa: arven etter Brende i europapolitikken
Engasjementspolitikk på autopilot: Fredsbygging, fredsbevaring og fredsmegling under Børge Brende
Å hoppe etter Refleks: Brendes Veivalg
I dette bidraget vil jeg løfte stortingsmeldingen "Veivalg for utenriks- og sikkerhetspolitikken" frem i diskusjonen rundt Brendes arv, og i) se "Veivalg" i lys av Jonas Gahr Støres "Refleks", og ii) moderere kritikken om at det ikke ble foretatt noen veivalg i stortingsmeldingen. Jeg vil særlig trekke frem satsningen på sårbare stater, som både i meldingen og i statsbudsjettet for 2018 er viet stor plass.