Et splittet Vesten
Hva er det som skjer med verden for tida? Vi er usikre på om vi fortsatt kan stole på vår nærmeste allierte, og det vestlige fellesskapet er under...
Europe must take responsibility in Ukraine
US efforts to mediate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have stalled. Russia has reiterated its unrealistic demands and rejected the ceasefire proposed by Ukraine and the United States. With Donald Trump unwilling to exert pressure on Moscow, the process has effectively collapsed. Europe must now assume a leadership role in shaping a coherent strategy to counter Russian expansionism. This strategy must ensure not only that Ukraine does not lose the war, but that it succeeds in defending the security, political stability, and future development of the entire European continent. Ukraine cannot be expected to shoulder this burden alone – a shared destiny binds Europe and Ukraine together.
Hybrid Frontlines: Russian Threats and the Future of Maritime Infrastructure in the Black Sea and the North Sea
This study analyzes the risks facing critical maritime infrastructure in two regions essential to European energy security: the Black Sea and the North Sea. The study highlights how the Russian Federation employs hybrid tactics — ranging from sabotage and cyberattacks to influence operations — to advance its geopolitical interests, undermining the stability and security of undersea energy and communication infrastructure. This comparative research examines the responses of Romania and Norway — two NATO member states on the frontlines of this strategic competition — and offers concrete policy recommendations for strengthening the resilience of critical maritime infrastructure. The study is part of the Strategic Initiative for Defending Critical Maritime Infrastructure (SIDMI) project conducted jointly by the New Strategy Center and Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.
Securing the Frontlines: Experimentalist Governance for Critical Maritime Infrastructure in the Black Sea and North Sea
The proliferation of hybrid threats challenges both national security and the institutional foundations of governance. Nowhere is this tension more acute than in the maritime domain, where critical infrastructure such as undersea cables, offshore energy platforms, and subsea pipelines have become both economic lifelines and geopolitical fault lines. These infrastructures are increasingly exposed to hybrid operations designed to exploit legal ambiguity, attribution challenges, and the seams between civil, military, and private actors. Traditional security governance models premised on clear jurisdictional boundaries, centralized command structures, and rigid doctrinal templates, struggle to account for weaponized ambiguity and threats operating below thresholds of open conflicts. As sub-threshold threats continue to evolve and be refined, they reveal deep structural limitations in existing institutional responses, including sectoral silos, information-sharing deficits, and accountability systems illsuited for dynamic crisis environments. This paper explores the need for more adaptive governance frameworks capable of managing the uncertainty, complexity, and cross-sectoral interdependence that define today’s hybrid threat landscape. Specifically, it examines how experimentalist governance (EG) offers a promising architecture for coordinating the defense of critical maritime infrastructure (CMI) in the face of hybrid aggression. The paper analyzes two distinct cases: Norway, with its mature institutional capacity, dense subsea infrastructure, and strong integration with NATO and EU partners; and Romania, situated at the Black Sea frontier, where emerging offshore energy projects intersect with a fluid and contested security environment.
The World According to Military Targeting
A revealing account of the prevalence—and alarming ubiquity—of military targeting, and how it has become a self-propelling worldview driven by dominance, violence, and power. The World According to Military Targeting engages directly with our grave world condition, asking how we ended up in a “closed world” made for military targeting by military targeting. In this book, NUPI researcher Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud explores how the operational logics and seductive forces of targeting produce a world in which the only ways to think about politics and security is through military supremacy, endless war, and global domination, with serious implications for social and political life. Offering a critical investigation of military targeting through the lenses of its historical formation, current operations, and future implications, the author presents an innovative investigation into targeting’s radical knowledge production, how it abstracts and brings into being new worlds, and the violence and destructive effects it generates. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the book draws attention to military doctrine and methodologies; statistical thought and practice; the mathematical and computational techniques of data production, processing, and modeling; and the so-called machine-learning algorithms and AI of today. The resulting narrative provides novel insights into how imagining the world, producing the world, and operationalizing the world are always wrapped up in each other and profoundly embedded in sociotechnical systems.
Ukraine’s secret weapon: Civil society at war
Come Back Alive and other volunteer organisations is an underappreciated, but important factor in Ukraine's fight against Russia. They are a vital...
Hvem skal bestemme over internett?
Hvordan havnet internett – en gang et fritt og grenseløst rom – i kryssilden mellom stormakter, sensur og geopolitikk? Hvem er det egentlig som ha...
Njord Wegge
Njord Wegge is a Professor in Political Science, International Relations, at the Norwegian Military Academy/Norwegian Defence University College,...
Norway and Poland as members of transatlantic and European security community
The fourth and last NorPolFactor report takes a closer look at the role of Norway and Poland in transatlantic and European security communities. As Europe redefines its security architecture amid shifting global dynamics, Poland and Norway face a dual imperative: reinforcing their role in the transatlantic alliance while adapting to the EU’s growing defense ambitions. Their paths diverge institutionally but converge strategically in facing shared threats and navigating uncertain transatlantic commitments.