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.
Governance and geopolitics of the maritime zones
The Norwegian Defence University College (FHS) is organising this half-day conference in collaboration with UiT The Arctic University of Norway and the Centre for Geopolitics.
Alaska, not Greenland, should worry the United States in the Arctic
The Arctic Institute: Erdem Lamazhapov (FNI) and Andreas Østhagen (FNI) argue that the US is letting itself be distracted by Greenland. While China is planning to begin construction of yet another icebreaker this year and is conducting joint military exercises with Russia in the Arctic, the US Coast Guard has delayed the development of several icebreakers until around 2030, and chosen to focus on Greenland. The FNI researchers emphasise that China's emerging maritime power has changed the strategic significance of the North Pacific.
Hybrid threats in high latitudes: Facing Russia on Svalbard
Kari Aga Myklebost (UiT), Stian Bones (UiT) and Thomas Nilsen (the Independent Barents Observer) explore Russia's sustained use of hybrid measures on Svalbard. They recommend Norway to meet this development with a two-pronged strategy that deters hybrid threats and strengthens Norwegian resilience through better institutional defences, increased public awareness, closer international cooperation and support for independent editorially governed media.
Nordic Perspectives on Arctic Security
Andreas Østhagen (FNI) and Andreas Raspotnik (FNI) have written a chapter on the Norwegian perspectives on security in the Arctic in The Arctic at a Crossroads: The Making of a New Frontier. The chapter sheds light on how the Arctic region has over recent decades attracted global interest due to its climatic, economic and political changes.
Det norsk-russiske fiskerisamarbeidet: et forvaltningsregime under press
Russlands angrepskrig mot Ukraina og de påfølgende sanksjonene mot Russland har vært en stor belastning for det norsk-russiske fiskeriforvaltningsregimet i Barentshavet. Til tross for sanksjonene og Russlands sterke reaksjoner, fikk man likevel på plass en avtale for 2026. Dette kunnskapsnotatet tar for seg hvordan presset på forvaltningsregimet utøver seg, og hvorfor det er viktig for Russland at samarbeidet vedlikeholdes. Det er nærliggende å tro at Russland ønsker å bevare «alliansen» med Norge i Barentshavet og hindre at EU får innpass i bestandsforvaltningen, som Russland beskylder for å prøve å ødelegge samarbeidet.
Spillet om Grønland – Danmarks villedning av FN og Trumps arktiske drøm
For å forstå spillet om Grønland i dag, og ikke minst situasjonen grønlendere lever i 2026, er det helt nødvendig å forstå historien til denne øya...
Keeping your cool: Arctic security challenges across time and space
The dispute over Greenland has drawn broader attention to Arctic security among NATO allies, EU member states, and beyond. As the most immediate tensions related to Greenland may subside, heightened interest in – and awareness of – security challenges in the region will persist and warrants nuanced discussion and international coordination. These developments set the tone for this Input Memo to the Arctic Security Roundtable at the 2026 Munich Security Conference.
Benedicte Egjar Engesland
Benedicte is a Master’s student in Political Science at the University of Oslo and a research assistant at NUPI in the Research Group for Global O...
Norway and Space: Strategic Positioning, Allied Cooperation, and Exposure (NSPACE)
The NSPACE project explores how Norway can respond to growing great-power competition in space by assessing how space infrastructure shapes national vulnerabilities and strategic oppor...