Researcher
Karsten Friis
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Dr. Karsten Friis is a Research Professor in NUPI's Research group on security and defence. He is on leave from September 25, 2026.
His research area is security and defense policies in Europe, with an emphasis on NATO, the Nordic region, the Arctic, transatlantic relations, intelligence, cyber security and the Western Balkans. He has published and led several major projects on these topics. Friis is also a frequently used commentator in the public discourse - not least in relation to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Friis is a political scientist with a PhD from the University of Groningen, a Cand. Polit from the University of Oslo and an MSc from the London School of Economics. Friis has been associated with NUPI since 2007. Before that, he was a political adviser to the OSCE Mission to Serbia (2004 to 2007), the OSCE in Montenegro (2001) and in Kosovo (1999). Friis was also part of the EU's negotiating team for the referendum on independence in Montenegro in 2006. In addition, Friis has worked for several years in the Norwegian Armed Forces and served at NATO/KFOR in Kosovo.
Expertise
Education
2018 PhD, University of Groningen
1998 Cand Polit, Political Science, University of Oslo
1995 Master, International Relations, London School of Economics
Work Experience
2007- Senior Research Fellow/Senior Advisor/Advisor, NUPI
2004-2007 Political advisor for OSCE, Serbia/Montenegro
2001-2004 Advisor, the Norwegian Armed Forces
2000-2001 Political advisor, OSCE, Montenegro
1999-2000 Analyst/E-off, NATO/KFOR HQ, Kosovo
1999 OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission
Aktivitet
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Nordic Security under Pressure
Topic for the third and last seminar in the seminar series on NATO will focus on Nordic security.
Balkan seminar
Siktemålet med seminaret er at unge politiske ledere og forskere skal kunne stifte bekjentskap med Vest-Balkan og knytte nye kontakter i regionen. Balkanseminaret arrangeres annet hver...
National crisis-management: Learning from Finland?
New societal vulnerabilities and new risks and threats require an agile national crisis management organization.Finland and Norway have addressed these challenges differently. What can we learn from Finland?
NATO’s response to the new European security environment: Firm deterrence or symbolic posturing?
Are the reforms and initiatives that were decided at the 2014 NATO Wales Summit being implemented as planned? This is the topic for this NUPI seminar, the first in a series of three concerning NATO.
Macedonia and the international community
What has lead to the political scandals and democratic regression that has marred Macedonia over the last years?
Cybersecurity Capacity Building (CCB)
The project aims to systematically explore cyber security risks in developing countries ...