Europe

European Actorness in a Shifting Geopolitical Order. European Strategic Autonomy Through Differentiated Integration

This is an open access book. Over the past decade, the global geopolitical context has changed significantly, with a geopolitical power shift and a more assertive Russia and China. With the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, European security has been put on high alert. The implications of the Russian military invasion are many and difficult to grasp in full. But the need for greater European strategic autonomy appears increasingly evident. But how can this be achieved in the short run? The answer to this question is often that it is impossible and that this can only be achieved in the long run. The aim of this book is to present a different perspective. It aims at showing that it should be possible to make the most out of the current European system if we adjust our understanding of how it works. The book argues that strategic autonomy may be reached—also in the short run—if differentiated integration is seen as an asset rather than a challenge. While the EU remains the core in such a system (together with NATO in the military domain), there is a multitude of other (bilateral and minilateral) regional and sub-regional integration processes that need to be taken into account to get the full idea of how European strategic autonomy can be achieved. This book starts by presenting a theoretical framework for how to study European actorness beyond the EU, then this framework will be applied both to the development towards the EU as a foreign policy actor through the mechanisms of enlargement.

EUs respons på krigen i Ukraina

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.

Introduction. Focus: War and Research

Russia’s attack on Ukraine on February 24 came as a surprise to many observers. This triggered several debates in the media, where analysts and academics criticized each other for not having seen what was emerging; for showing too much understanding for the Putin regime positions; and to let their political attitudes colour their analyses. In this Fokus column we will try to elevate these discussions to an academic level. Not to allocate blame, but to learn professional lessons. In this introductory text I will, inter alia, point to the need for more analytical breadth, to focus on both language and materiality, and to be extra aware of your own attitudes when one moves into a normative political debate.

Policy brief summarizing lessons learnt on the EU’s measures to prevent violent extremism in the region

While most research on violent extremism (VE) focuses on why people turn to violence, this policy brief looks at the issue the other way round. We sum up the lessons learnt from our findings on why the majority of those living in enabling environments often choose not to get involved in violence and, against this background, to (re-)consider the EU’s measures for prevention and countering of violent extremism (P/CVE) in the Western Balkans (WB).

Working Paper on enabling environments, drivers, and occurrence/nonoccurrence of violent extremism

Based on extensive desk research and fieldwork, the present paper aims to analyze the various drivers of violent extremism (VE) in the contemporary Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Republic of North Macedonia, and Serbia) and the elaboration of a refined, nuanced and context-sensitive understanding of the concept of ‘enabling environment’, i.e., the cluster or combination of various factors in a given society that renders the emergence of violent extremism likely. When approaching the varying impact of ideological radicalization and hate speech, we seek to make a distinction between contexts, where radicalization morphs into violence (“occurrence”), and contexts, where it does not (“non-occurrence”). Thus, the paper seeks to provide an analytical explanation of the central question of why some communities tend to be more resilient to violent extremist ideologies than others, despite identical “enabling” conditions. Given the geopolitical significance of the Western Balkan region, an approach that prioritizes non-occurrence of violence may respond more adequately to the strategic need for strengthening resilience to radicalization, extremism and terrorism there.

Vad är frihet?

”Frihet” är på allas läppar i dagens offentliga samtal – och lyfts då särskilt som ett värde som tillhör den politiska högern. Rita Augestad Knudsen tar i den här artikeln sin utgångspunkt i Lea Ypis bok Fri. En uppväxt vid historiens slut, och läser den som ett möjligt bidrag till debatten. Augestad Knudsen diskuterar hur Ypis bok kan förstås som ett försök att flytta frihetsbegreppet närmare den politiska vänstern, och att säga något om vad frihet innebär som ett politiskt värde idag. Författaren tar också upp hur boken fungerar som text och litteratur, med tonvikt på de idéer om frihet som framträder i den, och hur den skildrar Albaniens nära förflutna ”vid historiens slut” och övergången från auktoritär kommunism till marknadskapitalism. Trots att Fri är både spännande och intressant läsning så uppfyller den tyvärr inte fullt ut sina implicita löften om att utveckla dagens politiska frihetsdiskurs.