Strengthening Fragile States through Taxation (FRAGTAX)
How is the political authority to tax established, exercised and maintained over time? State-building requires predictable income. Without a domestic revenue base, even core activities...
Scandinavia as an arena for Chinese economic statecraft
China's utilisation of economic statecraft as a foreign policy tool challenges the accustomed distinction between Norwegian business policies, and Norwegian security policy. This ...
Understanding and Strenthening EU Foreign & Security Policy in a Complex and Contested World (JOINT)
The JOINT project analyses these dynamics while addressing the question of how the EU and its member states can make their foreign and security policy structures more joined-up and sus...
A new European security and defence architecture in the making: What does it look like and what are the implications for Norway? (EURODEFENCE)
This project will study the implications of the new European defence initiatives for Norway particularly, as an allied and closely associated non-member of the EU. Despite the incremen...
Reactions to state regulation of Islam in times of Daesh (STATEISLAM)
In recent years, in response to the rise of ISIS, governments in the Middle East have begun to control the religious spheres in their countries more tightly. One example is the standar...
Cyber security, knowledge and practices (CYKNOW)
CYKNOW will promote better understanding of cyber security, as well as develop novel theoretical and methodological tools for cybersecurity research in particular. ...
Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA)
C3SA informs policy through cybersecurity research to build national cyber capacity and resilience across Africa. ...
Public–Private Development Interfaces in Ethiopia (DEVINT)
Private actors are increasingly operating in the name of development and in partnership with international development actors. This project (DEVINT) will explore the nexus of private a...
Ad hoc crisis response and international organisations (ADHOCISM)
ADHOCISM asks what is the impact of ad hoc crisis responses on international organisations? ...
Differentiated Defence Integration Under French Leadership
Studies dealing with EU security and defence policy tend to focus exclusively on what is formally included in the Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Other initiatives taken outside this framework are frequently seen potentially undermining the development of EU defence – even when the intention is to strengthen defence capacity. This has been the case with the various initiatives taken within or closely linked to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as the recent French approach involving the European Intervention Initiative (EI2). An alternative perspective is to see these as integrated parts of a more flexible and differentiated European security framework where all these initiatives combined contribute to strengthening European defence capacity. Building on the argument presented in the introduction to this Special Issue, this article argues that France, as a leader in promoting ‘l’Europe de la défense’, has been instrumental in promoting this differentiated approach to European defence integration, especially under the Macron presidency.