Publikasjoner
TTIP og Norge: Virkninger og handlingsvalg
Denne studien analyserer TTIP-avtalen, dens virkninger for Norge og Norges handlingsvalg. TTIP-forhandlingene blir neppe avsluttet under Obamas presidenttid, men avtalen kan bli en realitet i løpet av få år. TTIP tar sikte på omfattende samarbeid på reguleringsområdet. På kort sikt blir det begrenset harmonisering av standarder men samarbeid mellom ulike systemer. På sikt er målet sterkere samarbeid på reguleringsområdet. TTIP vil ut fra det vi vet ikke bety en senking av europeiske helsekrav eller et “kappløp mot bunnen”.
Ideenes relevans — Svar til Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer og Helge Pharo
New Momentum for European Defence Cooperation
For better or for worse, the politics of Brexit, in combination with the implementation of the new EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy, have generated renewed momentum for European defence cooperation. EU member states have tabled a range of proposals. Some consolidation will be necessary, especially if effective defence integration is the aim – and that is the way to overcome current fragmentation. National forces can cooperate and be made interoperable with other forces in various formats simultaneously, but they can be integrated only once. Two levels of defence cooperation and integration must be addressed. At the level of the EU as such, and using EU incentives such as Commission funding for R&T, largescale projects for the development and acquisition of strategic enablers can be mounted, with the European Defence Agency acting as manager. At the level of state clusters, large deployable multinational formations can be created (such as army corps and air wings), with fully integrated maintenance, logistics and other structures in support of the national manoeuvre units that each participant can contribute. By pooling all-too-limited national military sovereignty in this way, defence cooperation and integration can revive sovereignty, understood as the capacity for action, at a higher level.
How can peacekeepers strengthen their engagement with local communities? Opportunities and challenges in the field
This Policy Brief examines the opportunities, challenges and trade-offs that peacekeepers have to face when deciding when, with whom and how to engage effectively at the field level. It argues that by integrating bottom–up and people-centric approaches as a core strategy in peace operations, UN practices can be made more sensitive and responsive to the local people. Achieving this will be more realistic if communities are systematically involved in decision-making and if existing practices are incorporated into a set of coherent bottom–up and top–down operational guidelines.
Russia and The Idea of Europe: A Study in Identity and International Relations. Second revised and expanded edition
The end of the Soviet system and the transition to the market in Russia, coupled with the inexorable rise of nationalism, brought to the fore the centuries-old debate about Russia's relationship with Europe. In this revised and updated second edition of Russia and the Idea of Europe, Iver Neumann discusses whether the tensions between self-referencing nationalist views and Europe-orientated liberal views can ever be resolved. Drawing on a wide range of Russian sources, this book retains the broad historical focus of the previous edition and picks up from where the it off in the early 1990s, bringing the discussion fully up to date. Discussing theoretical and political developments, it relates the existing story of Russian identity formation to new foreign policy analysis and the developments in the study of nationalism. The book also offers an additional focus on post-Cold War developments. In particular it examines the year 2000, when Putin succeeded Yeltsin as president, and 2014, when Russian foreign policy turned from cooperation to confrontation. Bringing to life the various debates surrounding this complicated relationship in an accessible and clear manner, this book continues to be a unique and vital resource for both students and scholars of international relations.
Lebanon poised at the brink
Gravely affected by the Syrian crisis, Lebanon has remained relatively stable against all odds – despite the influx of some 1.5 million Syrian refugees and an internal political crisis involving supporters of opposing Syrian factions. Lebanon’s resilience can be explained by the high opportunity cost of state breakdown for domestic, regional and international political actors. Moreover, international economic assistance, diaspora remittances and informal networks established by refugees help to prevent outright economic breakdown. However, stability remains extremely precarious. Primary tipping points include (1) an IS strategy to spread the conflict to Lebanon, with consequent disintegration of the army along sectarian lines, (2) democratic decline and people’s dissatisfaction, (3) Hizbullah’s domestic ambitions and Israeli fears over the group’s growing military powers and (4) the potential that frustration between refugees and host communities may erupt into recurrent violence. The slow economic and sanitary decline in the country (5), however, is considered the biggest challenge.