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NUPI skole

Ulf Sverdrup

Former Director

Summary

Ulf Sverdrup was the Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) from 2011 to 2023. 

Sverdrup led a government appointed commission on the long-term perspectives for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, and he was the Head of the Secretariat for the Official Norwegian Europe Review (NOU 2012:2.)

Sverdrup published extensively on various topics in international politics, with a particular emphasis on European affairs and Norwegian foreign policy.

Expertise

  • International investments
  • Regional integration
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • The EU

Education

2000 Dr. polit, Arena/Department of political science, University of Oslo

1993 Cand. polit, University of Bergen

Work Experience

2011-2023 Director, NUPI

2010-2011 Head of the Secretariat for the Official Norwegian Europe Review (NOU 2012:2)

2000-2011 Research professor at ARENA, Centre for European Studies, at the University of Oslo

2008-2010 Professor at BI

Aktivitet

Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Mer inne enn ute

(Only in Norwegian) Brexit synes å ha endret Norges status i EU. Resultatet er at Norge er oppgradert, ikke nedgradert.

Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Nye toner i norsk europapolitikk

(Only in Norwegian) Regjeringen varsler taktskifte for Norges EU-strategi. Det kommer til rett tid og med forfriskende begrunnelser.

  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • The EU
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • The EU
Publications
Publications
Chapter

Preface - Russia's turn to the East

Pictures can sometimes be more revealing than words. If you ever sit down and look at a night-time satellite picture of the Earth, you will find that there are still huge areas on our planet that are not lit up by human activities and cities. One of the largest ‘dark spots’ in the Northern Hemisphere is found in the Russian Far East, or Pacific Russia. Here are enormous territories rich in natural resources like petroleum, minerals, forests and water – but these vast reaches are sparsely populated, and lack connective infrastructure. A closer look at the satellite image will reveal a tiny thread of light, almost like an umbilical cord, linking the Far Eastern part of Russia with the European part. This is the Trans-Siberian Railway that connects the Eastern and Western parts of Russia. The same satellite picture shows few traces of networking with the territories of the immediate neighbourhood – the brightly lit, heavily populated, urbanized and dynamic Asian economies of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. It is hardly surprising that Russia has intensified its efforts at closer integration with these Asian neighbours, economically and politically. For Russia, this pivot to Asia represents huge opportunities, but it also entails significant economic, administrative, technological, cultural and strategic challenges. The contributors to this book examine the nature, speed and direction of the long-term structural shift. Rather than taking the declared ‘pivot’ as a fact and exploring the likely consequences, the authors ask whether there has in fact been such a new pivot – or if what we see today is a continuation of longer-duration trends, concerns and ambitions. The authors explore the relationship between integration and disintegration, examining whether Russia’s turn to the East has intensified or changed in nature – domestically and internationally – since the onset of the current crisis in relations with the West. In turning to the East, is Russia also turning away from the West? This project is a result of collaboration involving scholars from Norway, Russia, Korea and the UK, and has been supported financially by the Korea Foundation and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In preparing this book, we have also benefited from our involvement in the project ‘Developing Asia Pacific’s Last Frontier: Fostering International Cooperation in the Development of Russia’s Far East and Siberia’, working with partners in Russia, Japan, China and Singapore.

  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Asia
  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Asia
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Norge trenger en Kina-strategi

(Available in Norwegian only): Hva slags Kina-politikk er vi tjent med? spør Ulf Sverdrup i denne DN-kronikken.

  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
Event
11:00 - 14:00
NUPI
Engelsk
Event
11:00 - 14:00
NUPI
Engelsk
4. Mar 2018
Event
11:00 - 14:00
NUPI
Engelsk

A more connected Asia – new possibilities in Europe?

Trade and infrastructure projects are booming in Asia. How may relations between countries in Asia and Europe change?

Publications
Publications
Scientific article

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.

Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Har ikke EØS motstanderne fått med seg brexit?

Det pågår en debatt om EØS-avtalen. SV ønsker å utrede alternativer. Noen av EØS-motstanderne ønsker å gå tilbake til frihandelsavtalene fra 1973. Har de ikke fulgt med på brexit? Frihandelsavtalene ga tollfri adgang for store deler av norsk industrieksport. De fungerte i noen grad etter hensikten, men allerede da de trådte i kraft, ble de sett på som utdaterte.

Publications
Publications
Scientific article

Frykten for Bolsonaro

Brasils nye president kan skape utfordringer også for Norge. Det er naivt å tro at Brasil-Norge relasjonene vil være upåvirket dersom alle sider av Bolsonaros politikk gjennomføres. Samarbeidet om klima og regnskog synes å være særlig utsatt.

Publications
Publications
Chapter

Sino-Nordic sub-regional diplomacy and the 5+1 model

During the last few years China has expressed a willingness to relate to the Nordic states in a more coordinated and structured manner, similar to how China has organized its relationhip with countries in East and central europe. In this paper, we discuss some of the issues related tp whether the Nordic states can ansd will develop a more unified approach to China, and some of the pitfalls and possibilities of a more structured cooperation.

  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
  • The Nordic countries
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Asia
  • The Nordic countries
Publications
Publications
Report

Brexit from Norway: a European Free Trade Association perspective

This report is part of larger comparative research project on how Brexit is percieved and approached in various European countries. In this paper I map out some aspects of brexit as it is viewed from Norway. See text here http://ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/brexit-from-norway/

  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • The EU
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • The EU
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