A normative China and a geopolitical Europe – have the roles been reversed?
NUPI invites you to a seminar with Professor Reuben Wong on China in the new geopolitical era.
Stuxnet, revisited (again): Producing the strategic relevance of cyber operations
More than a decade after Stuxnet hit the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in Iran, it is still discussed as the most vivid example of a cyber operation causing kinetic damage to infrastructure with implications for national security. This article shows that Stuxnet is due a revisit by arguing that the operation represents a paradigmatic shift in perceptions that continue to produce the meaning of ‘strategic relevance’ for cyber operations. The exceptional story of Operation Olympic Games and the Stuxnet malware has underpinned the way contemporary understandings of the (potential) role of cyber operations in international conflict prevail. Through a critical review of academic and policy discourse largely driven by orthodox perspectives on strategic security, the article demonstrates how these perspectives continue to influence American and Western policy objectives based on the imagined utility of cyber operations as an instrument of power. When exploring the strategic relevance of cyber operations as historically and politically produced, tied up in discursive and material interactions, it allows for scholars across the spectrum of security studies to critically consider the emergence of ‘new’ security threats and strategic capabilities.
Tempo og effektivitet i Norges støtte til Ukraina
Norge skal i 2025 gi 72,5 milliarder kroner i militær støtte til Ukraina. Med denne økningen er Norge helt i toppen blant landene som gir støtte til Ukraina, som andel av BNP. Men hvor mye penger Norge bruker på støtte til Ukraina er kun én side av saken. Et annet spørsmål er om norske myndigheter klarer å bruke disse pengene raskt nok og på en måte som setter Ukraina i stand til å forsvare seg mest mulig effektivt. Denne policy briefen identifiserer ukrainske behov, norske begrensinger og gir innspill til hvordan Norge kan lykkes best mulig med å bidra til økt ukrainsk kampkraft.
Polish-Norwegian Perceptions and Interactions
This working paper which is one of deliverables of the NORPOLFACTOR project maps mutual perceptions of Poland in Norway and Norway in Poland, the basic ideas informing their approaches to security-related challenges caused by their location in Russia’s neighbourhood as well as what could be termed as areas of cooperation and points of contention in their cooperation on addressing various security related challenges in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Norway and Romania: Navigating Information Warfare
The study „Norway and Romania: Navigating Information Warfare” explores the use of disinformation, propaganda, and interference to manipulate public discourse amid the Ukraine war. It discusses how these tactics exploit historical and border sensitivities to delegitimize Ukraine and distract from the global economic impacts of Russian aggression. The research highlights how such strategies shift blame and reshape international perceptions favorably towards Russia. The study analyzes how Russian political warfare manifests itself in both Norway and Romania, dwelling on the particularities of each country. This study is one of deliverables of the FLANKS II project conducted jointly by New Strategy Center in Romania and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) in Oslo.
Erdem Lamazhapov
Erdem Lamazhapov is a PhD Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI). His main research interests lie in the fields of environmental,...
Bjørnar Sverdrup-Thygeson
Bjørnar Sverdrup-Thygeson is a Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS), and part of the IFS Asia Programme. His res...
Henrik Stålhane Hiim
Henrik Stålhane Hiim is Head of Centre for International Security. Hiim’s research focuses on Chinese foreign and security policy. He also has a s...
Rebekka Åsnes Sagild
Rebekka Åsnes Sagild is a Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS), and part of the IFS Asia Programme. Her research...
Jo Inge Bekkevold
Jo Inge Bekkevold is a Senior China Fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS)/Norwegian Defence University College, where he tea...