How can peacekeeping contribute to advancing Women, Peace and Security?
When UN member states contribute expertise and capacity building, this can simultaneously contribute to advancing Women, Peace and Security. This is, however, likely to be a function of the gender norms of the society and security sector of the Police Contributing Country in question. Police Contributing Countries that seek to contribute to advancing the WPS agenda, should therefore work towards gendering their own security sectors. If gender mainstreaming remains an individual responsibility, advancing gender equality and the WPS agenda in peacekeeping is not likely to have a transformative effect on the security sectors of host countries. Interventions and projects seeking to affect transformative change should target structural factors of gender inequality, such as existing gender norms in the workplace. However, such actions also need to go beyond the security sector itself, as women’s choices are also limited by societal, cultural and religious norms.
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...
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.
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.
Gørild Merethe Heggelund
Gørild Merethe Heggelund is a Research Professor at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute (FNI) and serves as the institute’s project lead with the Centre...
Heidi Østbø Haugen
Heidi Østbø Haugen is a human geographer and Professor of China Studies at the Department of Culture, Religion, and Asia and Middle East Studies a...