Publications
Afghanistan’s Qosh Tepa irrigation project: Implications for transboundary water management in Central Asia
Afghanistan’s Qosh Tepa irrigation project could exacerbate water scarcity and destabilize Central Asia. To ensure sustainable resource management and avert potential conflict, a multilateral water-sharing agreement must be negotiated among the states involved with mediation by the international community.
Managing Climate, Peace and Security Risks in the Borderlands of the Lake Chad Region (CPS-Lake Chad)
This is a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) report for the research project on managing climate, peace and security risks in the borderlands of the Lake Chad Basin Region. An updated version was published 8 May 2026.
Introduction: Backlash Against the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
This edited volume sets out to examine how the backlash against gender equality and women’s rights affects the aims and ambitions of the WPS agenda. Since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has grown to form a comprehensive normative framework and body of knowledge. However, backsliding of women’s rights in the UN and beyond signals a potential reversal of an agenda that has steadily progressed and diffused globally for the past 25 years. Today, we see a backlash against liberal progressive norms, and support for women’s rights cannot be taken for granted as conservative and patriarchal norms gain ground within existing international and domestic normative structures. In this introductory chapter, we theorize and illustrate the interplay between norm development and regressive politics that aim to undo normative progress. The chapter presents an overview of research on the implementation and contestation of the WPS agenda, followed by a theoretical exploration of the concept of backlash. The chapter also asks what backlash against WPS norms might look like, and how resilient WPS norms might be. Finally, we outline the volume, summarize the contributions of each chapter to the study of the WPS agenda and conclude by emphasizing the volume’s overall theoretical and empirical contributions to the field.
Backlash Against the Women, Peace and Security Agenda
In recent years, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has faced mounting resistance from regressive political forces seeking to undermine its hard-won normative gains. This Open Access book offers a timely and rigorous examination of this global backlash, providing both theoretical innovation and empirical depth. Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners, the volume introduces a novel analytical framework that weaves together the concepts of backlash, counter-practices, and counter-discourses. It pioneers a deeper conceptual understanding of backlash—an often under-theorized phenomenon in feminist scholarship—and explores how resistance to gender norms is mobilized, manifested, and sustained across diverse contexts. Through richly detailed case studies from around the world, the book reveals how backlash operates at multiple levels, from subtle discursive shifts to overt political maneuvers. It interrogates how these dynamics stall, reshape, or reverse the WPS agenda, exposing the fragility of normative progress in international peace and security governance. Essential reading for scholars, peacebuilders, and advocates committed to advancing gender justice in global security, this volume not only diagnoses the threats facing the WPS agenda but also underscores the urgent need for sustained scholarly and policy engagement to protect and advance feminist achievements in global security.
Developments in EU space policy: challenges and opportunities for Norway
EU space policy is undergoing change. Its growing prioritisation of security and defence creates uncertainty regarding Norway’s role and opportunities in EU space activities. These changes will take time, but opportunities for continued Norwegian engagement lie in strategic positioning, strong security and defence industrial relations with the EU, and in Norway being perceived by the EU as a like-minded and reliable partner. In particular, the EU’s intention to streamline its model for cooperation with third countries may challenge Norway’s position as a particularly closely integrated participant in EU space activities. This policy brief builds on an article published in the journal Internasjonal Politikk entitled "Room for change? The premises of EU space policy". The article was written while the author, Dorthea Gradek, was a trainee at the Norwegian Space Agency. The analysis, findings and recommendations in this policy brief are based on 23 interviews with officials working within the EU space bureaucracy, including staff in the COREPER subgroup, the European Commission, agencies under the European Commission, and the permanent representations of European countries to the EU.
Populism and the Future of Transatlantic Relations: Challenges and Policy Options
This report assesses how changes in US foreign policy under a right-wing populist president affect the EU–US relationship and offers concrete policy recommendations on pressing issues. Focusing on the links between foreign-policy shifts, domestic polarization and antiliberal democratic trends, the report examines how domestic dynamics may constitute the most severe long-term challenge to transatlantic cooperation. It also evaluates specific policy challenges and opportunities for strengthening that cooperation in the years ahead. By exploring developments in US foreign policies and how these are linked to domestic polarization and antiliberal democratic ideas, chapters in this report shed light on how this domestic factor poses a severe challenge to the transatlantic relationship. Authors focus on how the rise of right-wing populism – with an increasing portion of the population resisting globalization, international institutions, free trade and even democratic values on both sides of the Atlantic affects the transatlantic relationship. Within each section of the report, a background chapter introduces the overarching debate, followed by three case studies focusing on observed changes, policy implications and recommendations for EU responses. The conclusion sums up key findings and provides recommendations for how the EU should respond to changing transatlantic relations.
Introduction: Power and Social Hierarchies in the North Caucasus: Perceptions and Challenges
Power and social hierarchies lie at the heart of some of the most pressing issues facing Russia today. Nowhere is this more true than in the North Caucasus. In this introduction to the special issue, we explain why these relations and hierarchies – increasingly viewed through the lens of “decolonization” – matter and how the region fits within broader debates. We then provide an overview of the contributions and how they combine to offer a more nuanced understanding of the region, its place, and the challenges it faces.
Europe's Selective Blindness on Gas - US LNG and the Limits of Supply Diversification
The European Union (EU) aims to diversify its gas and oil supplies and is determined to end its energy imports from Russia, whose revenues finance its war of aggression against Ukraine. Yet, despite the rhetorical commitment to diversification, new EU legislation paradoxically treats energy sourced from any single country other than Russia as fully diversified. This risks to obscure Europe’s rapidly growing dependence on US LNG imports. When Norway is considered ‘indigenous’ due to its close integration and political alignment as part of the European Economic Area, this trend becomes even clearer, with over 59% of LNG imports coming from the US in 2025. Such dependence exposes Europe to the risk of high costs, price volatility and geopolitical pressures. The principal pathway to strengthening the EU’s strategic autonomy in the energy sector is the accelerated transition to an efficient energy system based on indigenous renewables. As long as the EU remains reliant on large amounts of imported energy resources, mitigating the associated risks will require genuine supplier diversification embedded within a broader energy security strategy. Such a strategy must rest on a sound definition of diversification and reflect today’s geopolitical realities.
Managing climate, peace and security risks in the Lake Chad Region
The policy brief summarises findings from a Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA), undertaken for the climate, peace and security risks in the Lake Chad region research project (CPS-Lake Chad). The publication is part of the project project 'Managing Climate, Peace and Security Risks in the Borderlands of the Lake Chad Region (CPS-Lake Chad)' which is funded by the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme. It brings together world-leading experts and local researchers to examine conflict-affected borderlands, how conflicts connect across borders, and the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour.
India in South Asia: Quest for regional dominance in a multipolar world
This report analyses India’s role in South Asia at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty and domestic volatility across the region. As India’s economic and strategic weight grows, its immediate neighbourhood has become the most consequential arena in which the opportunities and constraints of its rise are revealed.