Staten, barnevernet og utenrikspolitikken. Fra indre anliggende til internasjonal konfliktsone
Norwegian diplomats spend a great deal of time and resources responding to international criticism against Norway’s child welfare services. Such cases can enter the foreign policy domain when the criticism is raised in a bilateral context, or authoritative institutions challenge Norway’s standing as a frontrunner in family affairs. This article maps the criticism, discusses Norwegian diplomatic responses to it, and reflects on why Norwegian references to “the child’s best interest” may deepen rather than ease conflict.
Nordic perspectives on European security: Norway
How does Norway relate to the various new European defence cooperation formats? Which states are Norway coordinating with when engaging in these projects? Is there unexploited potential for common Nordic initiatives within the European formats? Or do traditional security relationships still take precedence? These are the questions discussed in this chapter
Consequences for the seafood industry of termination of the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement
The main aim of the project is the publication of a book in Norwegian about the consequences for the seafood industry if the EEA agreement is terminated. ...
Book review: Cas Mudde's "The Far Right Today"
The article reviews Cas Mudde’s ‘The Far Right Today’ (2019). The book remarkably summarizes decades of research on the radical and extreme right, arguing that the contemporary far right differs from its pre-2000s antecedents by its mainstream and normalized nature. ‘The Far Right Today’ is an (semi)academic equivalent of a page-turner. Mudde rationalizes far-right mobilization in a way that takes the edge off those terrified by the sensationalist coverage of far-right demonstrations, featuring tattoo-covered, black-clothed skinheads with combat boots, but also reminds those dismissing the far-right threat of the indirect and long-term impact of the mainstreaming and normalization of the radical and extreme right. ‘The Far Right Today’ is thus a must-read for students, researchers, policymakers, and those interested in up-to-date research on the far right.
Ten Years On: Reassessing the Stoltenberg Report on Nordic Cooperation
Ten years ago, the report ‘Nordic cooperation on foreign and security policy’ was presented to the Nordic foreign ministers at an extraordinary meeting in Oslo, Norway. Penned and fronted by Norway’s former foreign minister Thorvald Stoltenberg, the report proposed thirteen ways in which Nordic cooperation in the foreign and security domain could be formalized and strengthened. In this review, we revisit these thirteen proposals and ask: How important was the 2009 Stoltenberg Report for boosting Nordic foreign and security policy cooperation? What progress can we observe in the decade that has passed since the report was released?
Civil-Military Relations in International Interventions: A New Analytical Framework
It is frequently claimed that success in interventions hinges largely on military–civilian coherence. However, despite high ambitions among politicians and organizations, coherence among intervening actors has proven challenging to achieve in practice. Why is this so? To answer this, the book approach the various military and civilian actors in interventions from several angles. It discusses different relationships between the intervening actors, and their relations to those intervened upon. It also analyses different military concepts, such as peacekeeping and counterinsurgency, and the often troubled relationship between the humanitarian and military intervening actors. The book argues that to capture these relationships, an analytical framework which is capable of covering all the intervening actors, is required. It offers such a framework, based on identification theory, which illuminates how the interveners represent those they have deployed to engage, as well as their own identity and role. Based on this we can develop a better understanding of if and when coherence emerge – or not – between the intervening actors.
Den flerhodede dragen – Mot en ny modell for kinesisk utenrikspolitikk?
Societal development in China in the past few decades has made pluralism a central feature in the way Chinese policy is decided and implemented. Old formal actors are now facing competition from new, informal actors in both public and civil spheres. As a consequence, China’s formal foreign policy is now but one of many voices outwards. On the basis of a systematic description of important actors and lines of governance in today’s China, in this article I argue that the state of affairs can be described as «pluralized authoritarianism». The model is illustrated with an analysis of China’s behaviour in the South China Sea in the period 2007–2012.
The Lion and the Dragon: Sino-Norwegian relations and the way forward
The state and prospects for Sino-Norwegian relations during and after the Chinese boycott of Norway 2011-2016.