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NUPI skole

Researcher

Jakub M. Godzimirski

Research Professor
Jakub_Godzimirski_11.jpg

Contactinfo and files

jmg@nupi.no
+(47) 984 90 717
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Summary

Jakub M. Godzimirski has been working on Russian foreign and security policy issues at NUPI for more than 20 years, paying special attention to the role of energy resources in Russian grand strategy. In addition he also has worked on European policy and its impact on developments in Central and Eastern Europe, including relations with Russia.

Expertise

  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • NATO
  • International economics
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • Russia and Eurasia
  • The Arctic
  • Conflict
  • Energy
  • International organizations
  • The EU

Education

1987 Ph.D. Polish Academy of Science and Letters

1981 MA social antropology at Warsaw University

Work Experience

1995- Senior Research Fellow and Research Professor at NUPI

1993-1994 Senior analyst at The Ministry of Defence, Poland 

1981-1987 Research fellow at the Institute of Arts, The Polish Academy of Science and Letters

Aktivitet

Publications
Publications
Policy brief
Dan Dungaciu, Jakub M. Godzimirski

Russia and frozen conflicts in the Black Sea region

This policy brief examines the role frozen conflicts play in Russian policy towards the Black Sea Region and measures that could be taken to limit the negative impact of this policy in the region.1 Its focus is on the four frozen conflicts existing in the post-Soviet space – Transnistria in Moldova, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, and Nagorno Karabakh in Azerbaijan, as well as on the more recent conflict in Eastern Ukraine that has many features characteristic of frozen conflicts and the aim is to demonstrate how these conflicts have been instrumentalized in Russian foreign and security policy and what needs to be done in policy terms to limit the negative impacts these conflicts have had and may have on the security situation in the region. The first section presents the general understanding of the frozen conflicts. The second part presents briefly the main parameters of frozen conflicts that have emerged and are still very much present in the post-Soviet space and in the broadly understood Black Sea Region. The third part focuses on the role of frozen conflicts in Russian foreign and security policy, and the fourth part presents some policy relevant conclusions and recommendations. The main preliminary conclusion is that these conflicts will most probably remain unsolved in the foreseeable future and that this will have a negative impact on the security situation in the region where Russia will still approach these conflicts in an instrumental manner as an issue that can give Russia some strategic advantages or at least prevent solution of these conflicts in a way that would reduce Russia’s strategic footprint in the region.

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Publications
Publications
Chapter

Foreign Investments and National Security: The Case of Russia

Foreign investments have played pivotal roles in China’s overall economic growth over the last several decades, but for different reasons and with varying intensity. In this chapter, we focus mainly on inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and perform three tasks. First, we provide an overview of the foreign investments that have entered China—since economic and market liberalization and internationalization reforms started in the late 1970s. Second, we consider inward FDI with regards to sectoral distribution, where most investments come from, and which sectors are most popular among foreign investors. Third, we discuss Chinese FDI policies and regulations with focus on motivations and seek to explain that although China has changed its regulatory measures considerably over the years, it has remained relatively restrictive and selective in terms of which sectors and types of investments have been, and are still, open for foreign investment.

  • Global economy
  • International economics
  • International investments
  • Asia
  • Global economy
  • International economics
  • International investments
  • Asia
Research project
2025 (Ongoing)

National network for competence on Russia (RUSSNETT 2025)

The national network for competence on Russia aims to preserve and further develop Norwegian knowledge of Russia across sectors in Norway. ...

  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Russia and Eurasia
Publications
Publications
Working paper
Jakub M. Godzimirski, Sergiu Mitrescu

Hybrid Frontlines: Russian Threats and the Future of Maritime Infrastructure in the Black Sea and the North Sea

This study analyzes the risks facing critical maritime infrastructure in two regions essential to European energy security: the Black Sea and the North Sea. The study highlights how the Russian Federation employs hybrid tactics — ranging from sabotage and cyberattacks to influence operations — to advance its geopolitical interests, undermining the stability and security of undersea energy and communication infrastructure. This comparative research examines the responses of Romania and Norway — two NATO member states on the frontlines of this strategic competition — and offers concrete policy recommendations for strengthening the resilience of critical maritime infrastructure. The study is part of the Strategic Initiative for Defending Critical Maritime Infrastructure (SIDMI) project conducted jointly by the New Strategy Center and Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

  • Security policy
  • Cyber
  • Europe
  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Oceans
  • Governance
  • Security policy
  • Cyber
  • Europe
  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Oceans
  • Governance
Publications
Publications
Working paper
Sergiu Mitrescu, Jakub M. Godzimirski

Securing the Frontlines: Experimentalist Governance for Critical Maritime Infrastructure in the Black Sea and North Sea

The proliferation of hybrid threats challenges both national security and the institutional foundations of governance. Nowhere is this tension more acute than in the maritime domain, where critical infrastructure such as undersea cables, offshore energy platforms, and subsea pipelines have become both economic lifelines and geopolitical fault lines. These infrastructures are increasingly exposed to hybrid operations designed to exploit legal ambiguity, attribution challenges, and the seams between civil, military, and private actors. Traditional security governance models premised on clear jurisdictional boundaries, centralized command structures, and rigid doctrinal templates, struggle to account for weaponized ambiguity and threats operating below thresholds of open conflicts. As sub-threshold threats continue to evolve and be refined, they reveal deep structural limitations in existing institutional responses, including sectoral silos, information-sharing deficits, and accountability systems illsuited for dynamic crisis environments. This paper explores the need for more adaptive governance frameworks capable of managing the uncertainty, complexity, and cross-sectoral interdependence that define today’s hybrid threat landscape. Specifically, it examines how experimentalist governance (EG) offers a promising architecture for coordinating the defense of critical maritime infrastructure (CMI) in the face of hybrid aggression. The paper analyzes two distinct cases: Norway, with its mature institutional capacity, dense subsea infrastructure, and strong integration with NATO and EU partners; and Romania, situated at the Black Sea frontier, where emerging offshore energy projects intersect with a fluid and contested security environment.

  • Security policy
  • Cyber
  • Oceans
  • Security policy
  • Cyber
  • Oceans
Publications
Publications
Working paper
Jakub M. Godzimirski, Ole Martin Stormoen, Øyvind Svendsen, Tomasz Obremski, Michał Malak

Norway and Poland as members of transatlantic and European security community

The fourth and last NorPolFactor report takes a closer look at the role of Norway and Poland in transatlantic and European security communities. As Europe redefines its security architecture amid shifting global dynamics, Poland and Norway face a dual imperative: reinforcing their role in the transatlantic alliance while adapting to the EU’s growing defense ambitions. Their paths diverge institutionally but converge strategically in facing shared threats and navigating uncertain transatlantic commitments.

  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • Europe
  • North America
  • The EU
  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • Europe
  • North America
  • The EU
Research project
2024 - 2025 (Completed)

Strategic Initiative for Defending Critical Maritime Infrastructure (SIDMI)

The SIDMI project enhances Romania–Norway cooperation on safeguarding offshore energy infrastructure through shared knowledge, practical experience, and research on emerging maritime s...

  • Security policy
  • NATO
  • Cyber
  • Intelligence
  • Europe
  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Energy
  • Governance
  • Security policy
  • NATO
  • Cyber
  • Intelligence
  • Europe
  • Russia and Eurasia
  • Energy
  • Governance
Publications
Publications
Jakub M. Godzimirski, Ole Martin Stormoen, Damian Szacawa, Tomasz Obremski

Poland and Norway in their regional strategic contexts

This working paper examines the role of regional cooperation in shaping Polish and Norwegian foreign and security policy. The focus is on the role of regional cooperation frameworks in this context, including the Weimar Triangle, the Bucharest Nine, Visegrad Four, the Three Seas Initiative, Nordefco, Joint Expeditionary Force, European Intervention Initiative and Framework Nations Concept.

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Publications
Publications
Jakub M. Godzimirski, Ole Martin Stormoen, Damian Szacawa, Tomasz Obremski, Mateusz Gibała

The Russian factor in Norwegian and Polish security policies

This text presents the role Russia has been playing in the formulation and implementation of the Norwegian and Polish security policy both in a longer historical perspective, but also in current context of the war in Ukraine.

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Publications
Publications
Ole Martin Stormoen, Jakub M. Godzimirski, Kacper Szulecki, Tomasz Smura, Damian Szacawa

Polish-Norwegian Perceptions and Interactions

This working paper which is one of deliverables of the NORPOLFACTOR project maps mutual perceptions of Poland in Norway and Norway in Poland, the basic ideas informing their approaches to security-related challenges caused by their location in Russia’s neighbourhood as well as what could be termed as areas of cooperation and points of contention in their cooperation on addressing various security related challenges in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

  • Defence and security
  • Security policy
  • Europe
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  • Defence and security
  • Security policy
  • Europe
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