Researcher
Pernille Rieker
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Pernille Rieker's research interests are European integration and European foreign and security policy, including French and Nordic foreign and security policies. She holds a PhD (Dr.polit) from the University of Oslo, earned in 2004. At NUPI, Rieker is part of the Research Group on Security and Defence (SecDef).
Recent publications:
Books:
- Franske tilstander: Forstå det moderne Frankrike? (Universitetsforlaget 2024)
- European Actorness in a Shifting Geopolitical Order. European Strategic Autonomy Through Differentiated Integration (Palgrave 2024)
- French Foreign Policy in a Changing World. Practising Grandeur (Palgrave 2017)
Articles:
- Krig i Europa og franske bidrag til europeisk sikkerhet, Internasjonal Politikk (2024)
- Finally coming of age? EU foreign and security policy after Ukraine, European Security (2024)
- Ad hoc coalitions in European Security and Defence: Symptoms of short-term pragmatism, Journal of European Integration, 2024
- Making Sense of the European Side of the Transatlantic Security Relations in Africa (Politics & Governance, 2022)
- 'Not so unique after all? Urgency and Norms in EU foreign and security policy' (Journal of European Integration, 2021)
More information about her other work can be found in her complete CV or on the project sites.
Current research:
Pernille Rieker leads the RE-ENGAGE project, which aims to analyze the EU's promotion of democracy and stability in its neighboring regions in a time of increased egopolitical tensions.
Education
2004 PhD, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo
1998 Can. Polit. in Political Science, University of Oslo
Work Experience
2025- Director and Research Professor - ARENA Centre for European Studies
2017- Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and Head of NUPI Centre for European Studies (NCE) (40% as from 2025)
2011-2017 Senior Researcher, NUPI
2009-2011 Senior Adviser, NordForsk
1999-2009 PhD-candidate/Senior Researcher/Head of Departement, NUPI
Aktivitet
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Norway and the EU towards 2030
This project takes a closer look at developments on key areas in the relationship between Norway and the EU towards 2030. ...
PODKAST: Slik påvirker Ukraina-krigen europeisk sikkerhetspolitikk
Pernille Rieker is a guest in the FFI podcast "Ugradert" "Russia's invasion of Ukraine marked a turning point in European history. In this episode of Ugradert, we talk to chief researcher at FFI, Bjørn Olav Knutsen, and researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Policy (Nupi) Pernille Rieker."
DEBATT: Krigen i Ukraina og hvordan den endrer Europa
Panel discussion about the war in Ukraine and how it affects Europe. Organised by Europabevegelsen.
Not so unique after all? Urgency and norms in EU foreign and security policy
The EU Global Strategy puts ‘principled pragmatism’ at the core of EU foreign and security policy. This has also been promoted as away of closing the gap between talk and action. Still, the concept has been widely criticized and interpreted as away of making the Union’s ‘organized hypocrisy’ less glaring. By exploring key EU foreign and security policy strategies and policies implemented over the past decade, this article suggests that a certain pattern for when the EU acts normatively and when it acts strategically can be identified. While the overall ambition is still to promote a more normative policy, also when it comes at a considerable economic cost, there is a limit to how it is willing to go. Evidence suggests that when faced with a situation perceived as urgent, the EU becomes more prone to implement policies that are at odds with its own principles.
Making Sense of the European Side of the Transatlantic Security Relations in Africa
This article aims to investigate the character of transatlantic security relations in Africa: How can it be characterized? Have they become weaker or stronger over the past decade? How can this development be explained? As NATO has not yet been heavily engaged on the African continent, it is prudent to study the relations between the EU and the US. Africa has been of concern to the EU (and its member states) for decades due to its geographical closeness and historic bonds. Since 2001, for both Europe and the US, Africa has become a region of increasing security concern due to the threat of international terrorism—for Europe, we can also add the migration concern. The European side of this relationship has also been largely dominated by France, making the transatlantic security cooperation in Africa essentially about French-American relations. As France has taken the lead regarding Europe’s security and defense engagement in Africa, increasingly with the support of other EU member states and associated non-members, this bilateral relationship is more than simply cooperation between two states. By applying a framework that understands EU security and defense policy as a process increasingly characterized as a differentiated and flexible integration under French leadership, the development of the Franco-US security relations in Africa must be understood as an expression of the transatlantic security relations in this region.
European defence beyond institutional boundaries: Improved European defence through flexibility, differentiation and coordination
As a response to the changing geopolitical situation, initiatives aimed to strengthen European defence have been taken in NATO, in the EU, but also bi- and multilaterally between EU member states and associated non-members, such as Norway. This policy brief argues that all these processes must be taken into account when we want to measure the full security and defence capacity of Europe. Rather than a sign of fragmentation, they are preparing the ground for a new European defence architecture, characterised by a high degree of flexibility, which in the end may be better adapted to the current security context. To maximalise the effect of this differentiated defence architecture, however, a certain coordination between the different initiatives is needed. There is now a window of opportunity for such coordination, as two key processes are now running in parallel: the development of a new “strategic concept” for NATO and the development of a “Strategic Compass” in the EU. If this succeeds, we can hope for the development of a more flexible and capable European defence.
The potential and limits of EU crisis response
The aim of this chapter is to identify the potential and limits of the EU’s external crisis response. Rather than focusing on the character of the EU as a foreign policy actor, it concentrates on the EU toolbox or repertoire applied in EU missions and activities in various external crises and conflicts in the near and extended neighbourhood, and also how the Union’s activities are perceived by local stakeholders. A key question is whether there is a match or mismatch between EU intentions, the implementation, and the perceptions of local stakeholders. The analysis in this article draws on both a series of qualitative case studies and a quantitative analysis of a large number of EU documents and statements. This mixed method has enabled us to explore the EU’s crisis response repertoire systematically and from various angles.
Understanding and Strenthening EU Foreign & Security Policy in a Complex and Contested World (JOINT)
The JOINT project analyses these dynamics while addressing the question of how the EU and its member states can make their foreign and security policy structures more joined-up and sus...
A new European security and defence architecture in the making: What does it look like and what are the implications for Norway? (EURODEFENCE)
This project will study the implications of the new European defence initiatives for Norway particularly, as an allied and closely associated non-member of the EU. Despite the incremen...