Niels Nagelhus Schia

Senior Research Fellow, Head of the Research group on security and defense, Head of NUPI's Research Centere on New Technology

Niels Nagelhus Schia is a senior research fellow, head of NUPI's Research group on security and defense, and co-chair of NUPI's Center on digitalization and cyber security studies.

He is a former fellow of the NSSR (New School for Social Research) and holds a PhD degree in social anthropology from the University of Oslo.

With a focus on the role of cybersecurity and cybersecurity governance in international relations Schia tracks new developments in policy and research, and provide academic studies, expert analysis and strategic policy recommendations. His research focus combines anthropology and international relations theory with theories of cyber security. His current projects are concerned with norms and state behavior in cyber space, development assistance and capacity building, societal vulnerabilities, sovereignty and cyberspace, global governance and cyberspace. In the research project GAIA (funded by the Research Council of Norway's IKTPLUSS initiative) Schia explores links between digital value chains, national autonomy and international politics. This is a four-year cooperation between SimulaMet, NUPI and several other institutions and universities. Read his most recent article The Cyber Frontier and Digital Pitfalls in the Global South published in Third World Quarterly (2018).

Schia has worked on numerous topics within international organizations, global governance, peacebuilding and statebuilding over the previous years. He has acted as an adviser to governments and international organizations on issues pertaining to capacity building, institution building and global governance. He has participated in international discussions and working groups in the United Nations and regularly participates at international conferences. He has long experience with developing and finalizing research projects financed by governments and research councils. A cross cutting concern in these research projects has been the exploration of global connections to more localized and national contexts. This is also a concern in his book Franchised States and the Bureaucracy of Peace (Palgrave Macmillian, 2018) and in his chapter Horseshoe and Catwalk: Power, Complexity and Consensus-Making in the United Nations Security Council in the book Palaces of Hope: The Anthropology of Global Organizations (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

Schia has published in scientific journals such as Third World Quarterly, European Journal of International Relations, International Peacekeeping, Journal of International Relations and Development, and Political and Legal Anthropology.

His current research focuses on cyber security, cyber capacity building in developing countries and emerging economies, internet governance and collaboration between states and non-state actors.

He is a former Fulbright Scholar and from January 2017 he is a co-editor of the leading Scandinavian-language International Relations-journal Internasjonal Politikk.

Education

2015 PhD, Social Antropology, University of Oslo

2004 Cand.polit., Social anthropology, University of Oslo

Work Experience

2022- Head of NUPI's Research group on security and defence

2017- Co-editor of the leading Scandinavian-language International Relations-journal Internasjonal Politikk.

2015- Head, NUPI's Cyber Security Centre. 2010 Advisor, Civil Affairs, Policy Best Practices Services (PBPS), UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, New York HQ.

2009 Visiting scholar at The New School for Social Research, New York, Leiv Eiriksson mobility programme (The Research Council of Norway) and Fulbright Scholar.

2003- Research Assistant / Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow, NUPI.

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2012-2016 Board member Fulbright Alumni Association of Norway.

2013-2016 Head of Scientific Committee for Fulbright annual research award.

Publications All publications

Digital Supply Chain Dependency and Resilience
Publication | 2023
- Lars Gjesvik
- Niels Nagelhus Schia
While a growing body of literature addresses how states increasingly aim to secure their digital domains and mitigate dependencies, less attention ha1
A conflict-prone UN Security Council? How small states can navigate the UNSC in the new era of great power rivalry
Publication | 2022
- Kristin Haugevik
- Niels Nagelhus Schia
Against the backdrop of intensified US-China great power competition and the deepening isolation of Russia by the West, the UN Security Council (UNSC1
Internet governance and the UN in a multiplex world order era?
Publication : Policy Brief | 2023
- Lars Gjesvik
- Niels Nagelhus Schia
Over the last two decades Internet Governance (IG) has emerged as an increasingly complex and fraught field of policymaking involving both states and1
The subsea cable cut at Svalbard January 2022: What happened, what were the consequences, and how were they managed?
Publication : Policy Brief | 2023
- Niels Nagelhus Schia
- Ida Rødningen
- Lars Gjesvik
Svalbard is, like most other societies, largely dependent on an internet connection. The fiber connection on Svalbard consists of two separate subsea1
Loss of Tonga’s telecommunication – what happened, how was it managed and what were the consequences?
Publication : Policy Brief | 2022
- Niels Nagelhus Schia
- Lars Gjesvik
- Ida Rødningen
In January 2022 the subsea volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in Tonga had a major eruption which also cut the country’s communication lines nationall1

Projects All projects

The EU Navigating Multilateral Cooperation (NAVIGATOR)
Research project | 2023 - 2027 (Ongoing)
How should the EU navigate the increasingly complex - and conflict-laden - institutional spaces of global governance to advance a rules-based international order? And what factors should be emphasized...
Peace operations Security policy Governance Climate International organizations The EU NATO United Nations Russia and Eurasia Europe Asia Africa North America Cyber AU Migration Globalisation Regional integration
Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA)
Research project | 2020 - 2022 (Ongoing)
C3SA informs policy through cybersecurity research to build national cyber capacity and resilience across Africa....
Security policy Development policy Diplomacy International organizations Asia Africa Cyber Fragile states
Public–Private Development Interfaces in Ethiopia (DEVINT)
Research project | 2021 - 2024 (Ongoing)
Private actors are increasingly operating in the name of development and in partnership with international development actors. This project (DEVINT) will explore the nexus of private actors and public...
Economic growth Human rights Governance Development policy Foreign policy International organizations United Nations Africa Globalisation
Reference group for Norway's membership in the UN Security Council
Research project | 2020 - 2022 (Ongoing)
Norway has a seat in the UN Security Council in 2021 - 2022. Through this project we will facilitate meetings with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss important strategic issues....
Peace operations Security policy Human rights Conflict Climate Development policy Humanitarian issues Diplomacy International economics International organizations United Nations Cyber Fragile states Globalisation
Defending and renewing multilateralism: Estonia and Norway in the UN Security Council
Research project | 2020 - 2021 (Completed)
This project will explore possibilities to enhance Estonian-Norwegian bilateral cooperation in promoting multilateral cooperation and a rules-based global order in the framework of the United Nations ...
Security policy Governance Climate Diplomacy Foreign policy International organizations United Nations Globalisation Europe The Nordic countries

Events All events

Cyber defence and the EU’s cyber posture
Event
Tue 9 May 2023
Time: 10:00 Europe/Oslo | Location: NUPI
What are the recently adopted EU cyber-related policies and how relevant are they in the current geopolitical context?
WEBINAR: Digital technology and development aid
Event
Tue 14 Dec 2021
Time: 15:00 Europe/Oslo | Location: Microsoft Teams
At this webinar we take a closer look at the findings from the report Integrating Cyber Security into the Digital Development Agenda, with presentations from the authors, Melissa Hathaway og Francesca Spidalieri.
The weakest link? Digital technology and cyber security capacity building in Developing Countries
Event
Wed 7 Apr 2021
Time: 14:00 Europe/Oslo | Location: Microsoft Teams
The world gets more interconnected, and the dependency of cyberspace and its infrastructure is now evident in most sectors. Join this seminar to learn more about the need for security standards across countries.
Defending and renewing multilateralism: Estonia and Norway in the UN Security Council
Event
Wed 4 Nov 2020
Time: 10:00 Europe/Oslo | Location: Webinar
What possibilities exist for Estonian-Norwegian bilateral cooperation in the United Nations Security Council?
Theory Seminar: Cyber Conflict in the study of International Relations
Event
Thu 31 Oct 2019
Time: 11:00 Europe/Oslo | Location: NUPI
Max Smeets will take a closer look at the academic literature on analysing cyber conflict.