UN@70 (FN70)
Norway is developing recommendations and ideas for UN reform for the new Secretary General in the project 'UN@70: A new Agenda' ...
Good intentions, mixed results – A conflict sensitive unpacking of the EU comprehensive approach to conflict and crisis mechanisms (EUNPACK)
The EUNPACK project unpacks EU crisis response mechanisms, with the aim to increase their conflict sensitivity and efficiency. ...
Changing interdependencies and evolving policies in the Baltic Sea region
What's happening with the energy security in the Baltic Sea region?
ASEAN as a regional foreign policy actor and norm-setter
How does ASEAN as a regional foreign policy actor influence wide-ranging topics like regional integration, migration, maritime security and security policy?
Macedonia and the international community
What has lead to the political scandals and democratic regression that has marred Macedonia over the last years?
Duty of Care: Protection of Citizens Abroad (DoC:PRO)
How can Norwegian society best be protected, when increasing numbers of citizens are found outside the borders of the state? ...
Transatlantic free trade and its economic impact
What is the impact of TTIP on third countries like Norway?
How Do Little Frogs Fly? Small States in the European Union
Small EU member states need to exploit the special characteristics of their small public administrations in order to secure their interests and have influence within the Union. They must develop an administrative competence based on features like informality, flexibility, and the autonomy of officials operating according to guidelines rather than fixed negotiating instructions. They also need to acknowledge their limitations, and set priorities to a much greater extent than the large states. A strategy based on these features, combined with a positive image and political willingness, can bring negotiating success within the EU’s decision-making processes.
We Saw it Coming: Jihadist Terrorism, Challenges for the European Union
Nothing about the recent Paris or Copenhagen terrorist attacks was totally unexpected. Indeed, they were the sort of thing that security apparatuses in Europe had been preparing to have to deal with. Although security responses to terrorism are traditionally considered a quintessential national sovereignty prerogative, in the past ten to fifteen years the recognition that highly asymmetric security threats respect no borders has heightened the EU’s role as a coordinator in this policy domain. Some claim that counter-terrorism has changed the role and functioning of the EU itself towards a more operational character in security matters. Both old and new security responses to terrorism have (re-)emerged on the agenda of the EU and its member states in the ‘post-Paris attacks’ phase.
Reality check for the EU: The stand-off with Russia challenges the European Union in its fundaments
Russia’s military attacks in Ukraine are not only an assault on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of one of the European Union’s largest neighbours. They also impose multiple important challenges to the European Union (EU). Moscow has questioned the architecture, rules and institutions of the European post-Cold War security order and forces the EU to reconsider its external policies, particularly in its Eastern neighbourhood. Reactions of EU member governments, of certain political parties and media have exposed the EU’s vulnerability to Russian influence, which risks undermining the EU’s ability to forge an impactful approach to Russia and the EU’s eastern neighborhood.