Lessons from Tanzania’s property tax reform in 2021: Perceptions of fairness and efficiency
This study examines the effectiveness and taxpayer perceptions of Tanzania’s 2021 property tax reform, which introduced the use of electricity tokens for tax payment. The reform aimed to simplify tax collection and improve compliance by linking payments of property tax electricity purchases through the state-owned electricity provider Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO). A survey of 509 property owners in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro reveals high awareness of the reform (81%), but mixed views on its fairness and equity. Many respondents (55%) believe the reform did not achieve equitable distribution of the tax burden. However, the use of electricity tokens was seen as efficient and cost-effective by 57% of respondents. Despite these operational advantages, concerns about fairness and limited reductions in tax burdens for lower-income groups persisted. The findings suggest that while the reform has improved administrative efficiency, more attention is needed to address issues of equity and public trust in the system. Policymakers are encouraged to consider valuation-based tax methods to ensure a fairer distribution of the property tax burden.
Marc Lanteigne
Marc Lanteigne is a specialist on the politics and foreign policy of China and East Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) and Oceania / Pacific Island...
Arctic Security Conference 2025: Managing Fragmentation and Polarization
Building on last year's success, ASC25 aims to contribute to an enlightened debate about security policy in the north.
Riskification and the production of threat: A comparison of risk assessments in cybersecurity and counter-terrorism
This article foregrounds the riskification of cybersecurity – the transition from pre-empting threat to governing risk – through a comparison of the U.S. government intrusion detection system EINSTEIN and parts of the UK counter-terrorism programme Prevent. Extensively theorised within both cybersecurity and counter-terrorism, calculating, profiling and governing risk has become the default mode of security governance, algorithmically producing subjects of insecurity. However, a closer, comparative read of the sociotechnical configurations that underpin specific modalities in risk assessment systems reveal important differences: Whereas Prevent more clearly presupposes normative subjects and standards of (in)security, EINSTEIN’s anomaly detection engenders threat not as a binary or normative distinction but as a separate category of risk. Highlighting these differences enables a deeper understanding of speculative security practices as such, and of how they may be theorised. In particular, the article shows how ‘meaning-making’ and ‘sense-making’ are processes that shape both security responses and timelines through which risk is conceptualised in different ways. Moreover, it reveals that rather than being fixed, risk and (in)security is perpetually co-produced with the tools used for assessment: The production of (in)security hence has little to do with real or imagined risk but rather emerges from a particular configuration of social, political and technological relations.
Norwegian Security Policy: Strategic Choices and Dilemmas in a Time of Turbulence
The project examines how Russia’s war against Ukraine, increased great power rivalry, and uncertainty among allies are shaping Norwegian security policy, and how Norway should adapt to...
Strategic Initiative for Defending Critical Maritime Infrastructure (SIDMI)
The SIDMI project enhances Romania–Norway cooperation on safeguarding offshore energy infrastructure through shared knowledge, practical experience, and research on emerging maritime s...
Norsk russlandspolitikk i krigens tid: Skjulte, men uomgjengelige dilemmaer
(This book is in Norwegian): Boken "Dilemmaer i norsk utenrikspolitikk" diskuterer Norges handlingsrom, avveininger og valg i møte med vår tids store utenrikspolitiske dilemmaer. Dette kapitlet omhandler forholdet til Russland.
Europe’s New Role in U.S. Strategy
The future of U.S.-European relations is emerging as one of the most significant factors that will shape the global system. NATO’s celebration of its 75th anniversary at the bloc’s summit in Washington next week will be overshadowed not only by Russia’s war on Ukraine but by uncertainty over the future of the alliance itself—not least because of the possibility that NATO-bashing former U.S. President Donald Trump could return to power next year. The U.S.-European relationship will have several practical benefits for Washington’s rivalry with Beijing. In this op-ed, Jon Inge Bekkevold considers Europe's new role in U.S. strategy, the transatlantic relationship and U.S.-Chinese rivalry.
The Cost of Ignoring Geopolitics
Like Napoleon and the Ming dynasty, Europe is paying the price for strategic blindness. Europe finds itself in the greatest peril since the 1940s. As Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine enters its fourth year, the Trump administration’s policy shifts mean that Europe suddenly faces the possibility of war with Russia without the United States’ full backing. Washington is now negotiating a possible peace directly with Moscow and Kyiv, without the participation of other Europeans. It also seems willing to reach a deal largely on Russia’s terms. In this article, Jo Inge Bekkevold examines current geopolitical developments in Europe through a historical lens, highlighting both parallels and key differences with the past.
Paljetter og politikk: Eurovision i krise og konflikt
Eurovision ble opprettet som et slags forsoningsprosjekt i kjølvannet av andre verdenskrig. Men de siste årene har musikkonkurransen, som i år har...