NATO 3.0 and the role of Ukraine
The European pillar in NATO is strengthened as US is gradually withdrawing its support to security on the continent. What part will Ukraine play?
Norwegian-German space collaboration: A pathway to Europe
This brief examines the renewed Norwegian-German partnership in space and its strategic importance for Norwegian foreign policy and the country’s space ambitions. The analysis explores how the partnership reflects Europe's push for strategic autonomy and assesses how Norway can leverage its unique space assets to secure a stronger role in European space cooperation despite being a non-EU member. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s first visit to Norway at Andøya Spaceport in March 2026 kicked off a new ambition for Norwegian-German cooperation in space, with a focus on space-based surveillance, secure satellite communication, and launch capabilities from the spaceport. The partnership shows new signs of conceptualizing space as a highly cross-sectoral domain where joint capacity-building is needed. Where Germany brings industrial scale and technological breadth, Norway contributes with specialized expertise, research environments, and a unique geographic position for space activities in the High North. The partnership could strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and security, but its success will depend on navigating EU regulations governing third-country participation, ensuring long-term Norwegian investment and engagement, and establishing pathways for collaboration. The collaboration with Germany has the potential to position Norway as a leading Arctic spacefaring nation and a key partner to European in space.
From spending to delivery: Coalition-based governance to scale Europe’s defence industry at speed
Europe’s defence landscape is entering a new and decisive phase – not only in spending, but in how spending is translated into capability. After years of underinvestment, governments are now committing resources at levels once deemed politically impossible, driven by Russia's threat and shifting US priorities. In this brief, we argue that the current model underpinning European defence procurement, production and innovation is ill-suited to a rapidly evolving threat landscape. Instead, Europe needs a governance model built for speed, flexibility and scale.
Poland and Norway facing turbulent times – how can they improve their cooperation?
This seminar explores how Norway and Poland can strengthen their cooperation on security, energy, and human connections in response to increasingly turbulent times.
Global governance in transition: EU–Japan perspectives
New forms of cooperation are emerging, and countries are increasingly turning to smaller, more flexible alliances to navigate uncertainty. In this...
The Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Economics, Politics, and Norms
Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) strategy aims to promote economic prosperity, peace, free trade, and the rule of law across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Scholars primarily have interpreted FOIP through three lenses: economics, security, and norms. Economically, it reflects Japan’s support for regional connectivity, trade, and infrastructure development as both a growth strategy and a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In security terms, FOIP emphasizes maritime readiness, defense cooperation with like-minded partners, and adherence to international maritime law amid tensions in the South and East China Seas. Normatively, it advances Japan’s values-based diplomacy, promoting democracy, human rights, and a rules-based order in contrast to authoritarian models. Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe introduced FOIP in 2016, the concept has been adopted and adapted by many and diverse actors, each aligning it with their own strategic aims. This flexibility, unlike the more centralized BRI, is a hallmark of FOIP, resulting in a co-created, evolving, and often strategically ambiguous foreign policy. Dozens of countries from across the world incorporate FOIP language in their foreign and security policies, forming what some may consider a “narrative alliance” in the international system. The scholarship on FOIP is growing rapidly, yet there remain significant theoretical, methodological, and empirical questions unanswered.
The EU and the Geopolitics of the Oceans
Norwegian Centre for Geopolitics: Alf Håkon Hoel (UiT) and Linda S. Dahlberg (UiT) analyse the EU's role as a geopolitical power in ocean governance. With 22 maritime member states and over five million km² of European sea areas, the EU is a significant actor at sea – though its influence varies considerably by region. While the Baltic Sea is almost entirely an EU domain, EU member states are actually a minority among the coastal states of the Mediterranean. The authors also examine ongoing initiatives such as the European Ocean Pact, the EU Arctic Policy and Horizon Europe, and discuss their implications for Norway as an EEA member and a key maritime nation in the High North.
Breakfast seminar: Challenges with organizing post-war elections in Ukraine
This seminar will provide a space for informed discussion on the legal, operational, security and societal dimensions of post-war electoral preparedness in Ukraine.
Chinese Infrastructure Power in a Changing Global Landscape and its Alternatives
This seminar draws on five years of research to examine China's Belt and Road Initiative and its alternatives, from Europe and Latin America to Southeast Asia and the MENA region.