Researcher
Morten Bøås
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Summary
Morten Bøås (PhD) is Research Professor and works predominantly on issues concerning peace and conflict in Africa, including issues such as land rights and citizenship conflicts, youths, ex-combatants and the new landscape of insurgencies and geopolitics.
Bøås has authored, co-authored and co-edited several books and published a number of articles for academic journals. He has conducted in-depth fieldwork in a number of African countries and travelled widely elsewhere on the continent.
Expertise
Education
2001 Dr.Polit. (Ph.D) in Political Science, University of Oslo
1995 The CRE/Copernicus Seminar on Environmental Law
1994 Cand.Polit., in Political Science, University of Oslo
Work Experience
2013- Research professor, NUPI
2010-2012 Head of Research, Fafo’s Institute for Applied International Studies
2002-2010 Research Fellow, Fafo
Aktivitet
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The Neighbourhood: The EU enlargement game
What happens if your economy is suddenly in crisis, Brussels offers help with strings attached—and Turkey, China or Russia can move faster? What i...
Norsk forsvarsvilje og forsvarsevne: Hva kan vi lære fra Ukraina?
Hva skaper forsvarsvilje og hvordan vedlikeholdes den? Russlands angrepskrig i Ukraina og hvordan Ukraina har maktet å stå imot gir oss et unikt vindu for å undersøke og forstå disse spørsmålene. I denne rapporten benyttes nylig innsamlede data fra Ukraina for å kartlegge og forstå grunnlaget for Ukrainas forsvarsvilje. Dette gjennomgås i rapportens første del. I den andre delen brukes dataene fra Ukraina til å diskutere hva dette innebærer for norsk forsvarsvilje. Hvilke av erfaringene og lærdommene fra Ukraina er relevante for Norge? Hva er grunnlaget for norsk forsvarsvilje og hvilke utfordringer står Norge ovenfor når forsvarsviljen ikke bare må opprettholdes, men også styrkes?
Resilience and resistance in times of war
What are people willing to do, and to accept, when war becomes everyday life? This seminar will look closer at civilian resilience in Ukraine and what Total Defence will ask of Norway.
When jihadists govern: Lessons across the Sahel cases
Fifteen years of international engagement have failed to halt the rise of jihadist insurgency in the Sahel. The Jihadist Governance in the Sahel (JIGOV-Sahel) research project shows that neither the absence of the state nor the insurgents’ ideological commitment alone is the cause. The state is present in ways that generate resistance, and jihadists govern because they fulfil functions the state does not. Norwegian and international strategies should move away from a military-first response and from the restoration of the same state, and towards assistance that strengthens state legitimacy, services, and rule of law in the daily lives of citizens.
Trust and taxation in Zanzibar’s tourism sector
This report examines how trust shapes tax compliance in Zanzibar’s vital tourism sector, based on a survey of 316 tour operators. While most operators demonstrate a strong sense of civic duty and a high willingness to pay taxes, trust in tax authorities remains moderate. The findings highlight that compliance depends not only on enforcement, but also on clarity, fairness, and reciprocity as businesses are more likely to trust tax authorities when rules are easy to understand and when tax payments translate into visible public benefits. At the same time, the report shows that administrative complexity, unclear procedures, and unpredictable fee changes continue to challenge tour operators, with some willing to make use of informal coping strategies despite prevailing norms in favour of compliance. It concludes that improving communication, simplifying the tax system, and strengthening the perceived link between taxes and public services could play a key role in enhancing both trust and revenue collection in Zanzibar’s most important industry.
The TaxCapDev network
The TaxCapDev network brings together Norwegian researchers and experts to strengthen knowledge sharing on illicit financial flows, taxation, and the exploitation of natural resources....
Jihadism and Social Cohesion
This is a chapter in the book 'Routledge Handbook of Social Cohesion in Africa'. This chapter explores how jihadist movements in the Sahel both erode and construct social cohesion. It demonstrates how insurgents exploit weak governance and social fragmentation while building exclusionary forms of order and authority.
Sahel – The Perfect Storm
The Sahel is the borderland of 3 million square kilometres between the Sahara Desert and the African savannah and forest lands further south. Much of this huge area is inhospitable. Insurgencies are common, as are migration and smuggling, jobs being as rare here as effective government intervention–state power extends only fitfully, and the region resists attempts to subdue militants, people-traffickers, nomadic herders or anyone excluded from power. The Western Sahel’s fragile states face growing popular discontent, complicated by both climate change and military intervention by France and other powers. Mali is the epicentre of the Sahel crisis: Morten Bøås charts the history of Mali and its fragile neighbours, identifying their current frailty as unsettled states, without legitimate social contracts or political consensus. This in turn has generated competing identities and economic interests, which spill over into resource conflicts over grazing, water, mineral reserves or smuggling routes. Such local contests have been manipulated by elites intent on their own preservation, and appropriated by jihadi insurgents eager to integrate into local communities. What will happen if all the ingredients of this perfect storm coalesce? What are the ramifications for the Sahel, its neighbours, Europe and the wider world?