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Researcher

Øyvind Svendsen

Senior Research Fellow
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Contactinfo and files

OyvindS@nupi.no
(+47) 48 23 61 43
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Summary

Øyvind Svendsen is Senior Research Fellow in the Research group on global order and diplomacy at NUPI. The core themes in his research are foreign policy, diplomacy, and security and defence policy. Svendsen primarily studies these questions in a European context. His PhD is from the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen (2020).

Øyvind is Editor of the journal Cooperation and Conflict, 2023-2027.

Recent publications:

Theorizing Public Performances for International Negotiations. International Studies Quarterly 66(3): 1-12 (2022).

The Politics of Third Countries in EU Security and Defence: Norway, Brexit and Beyond. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2022).

The Politics of Competence in Global Health: The European Commission’s Global Response to the COVID-19 PandemicEuropean Foreign Affairs Review 26(SI): 15-29 (2021).

‘Practice time!’ Doxic futures in security and defence diplomacy after BrexitReview of International Studies 46(1): 3-19 (2020).

Spin-off av EØS? Norge og europeisk utenriks-, sikkerhets- og forsvarssamarbeidInternasjonal Politikk 77(4): 378-387 (2019). (med Pernille Rieker)

Differentiated (Dis)integration in Practice: The Diplomacy of Brexit and the Low Politics of High PoliticsJournal of Common Market Studies 57(6): 1419-1430 (2019). (med Rebecca Adler Nissen)

Brexit and the Future of European Defence: Towards a Practice Approach to Differentiated Defence Integration. Journal of European Integration 41(8): 993-1007 (2019).

Expertise

  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • Regional integration
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • International organizations
  • The EU

Education

2020 PhD, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen

2015 MSc International Relations Theory, London School of Economics

2014 BA International Studies and History, Lillehammer University College

Work Experience

2021- Senior Research Fellow, NUPI

2016-2020 Ph.d. candidate, University of Copenhagen

2015-2016 Lecturer, Lillehammer University College

2010-2011 Grenadier, the Royal Norwegian Air Force

Aktivitet

Publications
Publications
Report

Collective defence in Europe: What place for the EU?

Collective defence is the cornerstone of Europe’s security architecture, anchored in NATO’s Article 5 stating that an attack against one ally is an attack against all. With the deteriorating security environment in Europe, questions have been asked about whether, and if so how, the EU’s clause on mutual defence – article 42(7) of the Treaty on European Union – could be operationalized and perhaps be a supplement to NATO’s article 5 as a guarantor of collective defence in Europe. The debate is driven by perceived limits in NATO’s ability to deal with hybrid threats, the broader implications of Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the necessity for European states to take more responsibility for their security. For EU member states to succeed with its collective defence obligations within the union, political will, legal interoperability with NATO and capability development should be addressed further.

  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • The EU
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  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • The EU
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

How the UK’s post-Brexit foreign policy came home

After leaving the EU, the UK needed to rethink its place in the world. Kristin Haugevik and Øyvind Svendsen examine the aspirations and meanings underpinning the “Global Britain” narrative and argue that its scope and ambitions have changed significantly in the years following the Brexit referendum.

  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
Articles
New research
Articles
New research

The quest for a foreign policy ‘home turf’ after Brexit

Brexit marked a turning point in British foreign policy. Who would the United Kingdom now be on the world stage?
  • Defence and security
  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
Publications
Publications
Scientific article

On safer ground? The emergence and evolution of ‘Global Britain’

Why did Theresa May’s government introduce the narrative about ‘Global Britain’, and how did this narrative evolve and manifest itself in UK foreign policy discourse in the ensuing years? We make the case that Brexit distressed the United Kingdom’s foreign policy identity, and that the ‘Global Britain’ narrative emerged as a means to consolidate that identity—at a time marked by uncertainty and political turmoil. Scholarship on ontological security has theorized how states employ narratives to restore and stabilize their identities when they become ontologically insecure. It has not sufficiently addressed how these narratives evolve, and the conditions under which they come to resonate with key audiences. We suggest that identity consolidating narratives are more effective when they are anchored in familiar spaces and contexts—what we here call ‘home turfs’. We show how filling ‘Global Britain’ with content constituted a process of moving from existential anxiety about the country’s future role, to anchoring UK foreign policy in and around such ‘home turfs’. Tracing the emergence and evolution of the ‘Global Britain’ narrative in official UK discourse, we find that ‘Global Britain’ gradually homed in on two secure narrative bases: first, security and defence; and second, the Anglosphere and Euro-Atlantic.

  • Defence and security
  • Trade
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • Governance
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  • Defence and security
  • Trade
  • Foreign policy
  • Europe
  • Governance
Media
Media
Lecture

Brexit, "globale Storbritannia" og Norge

Innledning for vennskapsgruppen for Storbritannia

  • Europe
  • The EU
  • Europe
  • The EU
Media
Media
Lecture
Øyvind Svendsen, Kristin Haugevik, Minna Ålander, Caroline Holmquist

Panel 3: How does Norway, Finland and Sweden view Nordic security?

What are the consequences of the changing security landscape for security in the north? At this year’s Military Power Seminar, we invite you to a debate on the important political issues related to security in Norway’s immediate neighbourhood.

  • Security policy
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  • Security policy
Articles
News
Articles
News

Research on friendships in the Arctic

Kristin Haugevik and her colleagues can celebrate as their project has been successful with the Research Council of Norway. Now, people can expect insights into what sets apart the allies in the Arctic.
  • Defence
  • Security policy
  • Cyber
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
  • The Arctic
  • Conflict
  • Climate
  • Oceans
  • International organizations
Publications
Publications
Report

Rapport fra Respons-prosjektets åpningskonferanse, Oslo, 21. mars 2023

Åpningskonferansen for Utenriksdepartementets Respons-prosjekt fant sted på Sentralen i Oslo 21. mars 2023. Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt (NUPI) var arrangør, og arrangementet var derfor organisert innenfor rammen av NUPIs årlige utenrikspolitiske konferanse. Tittel for konferansen var “Norsk utenrikspolitisk konferanse 2023: Respons – norsk utenrikspolitikk for en ny tid”. Programmet besto av seks sekvenser, med til sammen 28 innledere og ordstyrere på scenen. Åpningssekvensen risset opp det overordnede bildet, etterfulgt av egne bolker om sikkerhetspolitikk, utviklingen i nord-sør dynamikken og forholdet mellom Kina og Vesten. Konferansens to siste sekvenser tok for seg norsk utenrikspolitikk i møte med en internasjonal kontekst i rask endring. Statsminister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) holdt åpningstalen i den første bolken, mens utenriksminister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap) deltok i panelsamtale i den siste bolken. Mesteparten av programmet foregikk på norsk, men enkelte innlegg og utvekslinger ble holdt på engelsk. Under følger en oppsummering av noen hovedtema og problemstillinger som ble drøftet i hver bolk.

  • Development policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
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  • Development policy
  • Diplomacy
  • Foreign policy
Articles
New research
Articles
New research

NUPI team to take over as editors of the prestigious journal Cooperation and Conflict

“Our aim is to consolidate Cooperation and Conflict as a platform for IR scholarship that is theoretically innovative, methodologically pluralist, empirically and historically rigorous, critical in outlook yet grounded in and with implications for key mainstream debates,” says Benjamin de Carvalho.
  • Diplomacy and foreign policy
  • The Nordic countries
  • Global governance
  • Theory and method
  • Historical IR
Publications
Publications
Report
Eskil Jakobsen, Minna Ålander, Øyvind Svendsen

Germany’s Zeitenwende in foreign and security policy: Domestic developments and alliance dynamics after one year

Days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a Zeitenwende, a historical turning point to which Germany would respond by reforming its foreign and security policies. In a speech in the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) on 27 February 2022, Chancellor Scholz listed five points for the reform agenda: supporting Ukraine (also militarily), sanctioning Russia, increased German contribution to NATO’s eastern flank, investment in more capable armed forces, and decoupling from Russian energy. The third point included a €100 billion special investment fund, so-called Sondervermögen, that would be used to boost Germany’s military capabilities and especially alleviate the most urgent material shortcomings of the armed forces. Given that Germany had been considered a laggard in European defence due to its restrictive approach on military capability – partly because of the historical legacy of guilt for World War II and partly a condition of Germany’s reunification after the Cold War – the announcement of a turning point raised expectations in Euro-Atlantic defence circles.

  • Security policy
  • Development policy
  • Europe
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  • Security policy
  • Development policy
  • Europe
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