Event

The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), together with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the UN Trust Fund for Human Security (UNTFHS), invite you to follow the Oslo Human Security Dialogue, 16 March 2026.

Across the globe, governments are re-evaluating their foreign and security policies in response to a volatile geopolitical landscape. The war in Ukraine, the war in Iran and the Middle East, developments in Venezuela, the US interest in acquiring Greenland, and inability of multilateral institutions like the UN Security Council to end the wars in Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere, together with a range of hybrid security incidents in Europe, including with submarine cables, drones at airports and election related interferences, are compelling many countries to recalibrate their foreign affairs and security policies, with implication for their international development policies.

Responses in Europe have largely focused on increased defense spending. But these developments also raise important questions about if and how human-centred approaches to security and development can serve as guardrails for future debates about how we understand and practice peace, security and societal resilience, both at home as well as in our foreign, defence and development assistance policies. 

This is not a question unique to Norway or the Nordic region. Many countries are similarly grappling with how to balance strategic security imperatives with the values of inclusivity, resilience, and human dignity that underpin sustainable peace, security and development, both domestically and internationally. 

The aim of this event is to explore if and how the human security tradition can inform the public and policy debate in Norway about the conceptual and normative directions that domestic and foreign peace, security and resilience policies should take in future.

The event is part of a broader initiative by SIPRI and the UNTFHS to arrange a series of events in Helsinki, Oslo and Stockholm, under the umbrella Nordic Dialogue on Human Security initiative.

The event is open for digital participation through NUPI's Youtube-channel:

Sign up here to get a reminder for the live-stream.

Program:

15:00 – 15:05    Welcome from NUPI – Kari Osland
15:05 – 15:10    The Human Security tradition – Knut Vollebæk, Chair, UN Trust Fund for Human Security
15:10– 16:00     Input presentations (facilitated panel discussion, moderated by Kari Osland)

• Civil-military cooperation, including in research, as a part of the Total Defence concept – Julie Marie Borna Fossem, Director, Center for Defence, Security, and Preparedness, NORCE Research
• A human-centered approach to Total Defence – Odd Gleditsch, Chief Analyst, Department of Total Defence and Analysis, The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB)
• Health-, Bio- and AI- threats to Human Security – Eirik Mofoss, Managing Director, Langsikt
• Human Security, Social Cohesion, Societal Trust and Resilience – Cedric de Coning, Research Professor, NUPI
  16:00 – 16:50        Facilitated open discussion 
  16:50 – 17:00        Closing & next steps 
   

Speakers

Kari M. Osland

Director

Knut Vollebæk

Ambassador

Cedric H. de Coning

Research Professor

Eirik Mofoss

Managing director, Langsikt

Julie Marie Borna Fossem

Director, Center for Defence, Security, and Preparedness, NORCE Research

Odd Gleditsch

Chief Analyst, Department of Total Defence and Analysis, The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB)