The future of UN peace operations: Principled adaptation through phases of contraction, moderation, and renewal
This article considers the future of UN peace operations through a complexity theory lens. In the short-term peacekeeping will have to adapt to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fall-out of the Trump presidency. In the medium-term peacekeeping will go through a phase of uncertainty and turbulence due to geopolitical power shifts in the global order. In the longer-term peacekeeping will have to adapt to a new multipolar global order characterized by coexistence, and a changing security landscape shaped by, among others, climate change, urbanization, and new technologies. Throughout these contraction, moderation, and adjustment phases, UN peacekeeping is likely to be guided by a principled adaptive approach, that allows it to adapt to the realities of the moment whilst staying true to its core form and identity. As a result, UN peacekeeping is likely to remain one of the most visible symbols of global governance and international cooperation.
Foreign Fighters in the War in Ukraine
During the last decade at least 17 000 individuals, mostly Russians but also up to 1000 Westerners, joined the war in Ukraine. Many came from extremist settings, predominantly far-right (brown) but also far-left (red). This seminar will look into where these fighters are now, and what they have done after Ukraine.
Crisis update on Central African Republic
For nearly two months Bangui – the capital of the Central African Republic – has been under siege. An alliance of rebel groups is attacking convoys of trucks bringing goods into the country – leading to food shortages and price rises. Fighting has led to a security and humanitarian crisis with over 200,000 people having to flee their homes. Dr Andrew E. Yaw Tchie comments in this TV story.
Reference group for Norway's membership in the UN Security Council
Norway has a seat in the UN Security Council in 2021 - 2022. Through this project we will facilitate meetings with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss important strate...
Sudan’s food riots show that the transitional government still has much to achieve
This op-ed, published in The Conversation, argues that Sudan’s political transition is in a precarious phase. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s government is facing a wide variety of challenges, including protests over the price of goods and commodities, and a resurgence of violence in the country’s Darfur region. If the situation continues to unravel, the country could fall into crisis leaving parts of the old regime to retake control.
Stat, nasjon og verneplikt En genealogisk analyse av stats- og nasjonsbyggingen i Norge med fokus på verneplikten
The report is a genealogy of the popular legitimacy of the state in Norway, using the military conscription system as a case.
The Georgian far right failed its electoral debut. But its season may not be over
Taken together, the emerging groups of the Georgian far right obtained less than 5% in the October 2020 elections to the national Parliament. But limited electoral success does not mean that the far-right has limited political power, in Georgia and elsewhere in the world.
Trade and trust: the role of trade in de facto state conflict transformation
De facto states – unrecognized secessionist entities that eke out a living on the margins of the international system – are often heavily dependent on external patron states for economic aid and investment. When the parent state – the state that the de facto state seeks to break away from – responds to the secessionist attempt by imposing sanctions or economic blockades, this further exacerbates such dependency. Moreover, due to their lack of international recognition, de facto states often have limited opportunities to engage with the outside world beyond the patron and the parent state. However, closer examination of one such de facto state, Abkhazia, reveals that de facto states can enjoy some bounded independent economic agency. Abkhazia’s maneuvering between Russia as “patron,” Georgia as “parent state,” and the wider international community (here exemplified by the EU) in the sphere of trade and economic interaction has important implications for de-facto state conflict transformation.