NUPI Research Online (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs)
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Utviklingen av USAs militære tilstedeværelse på NATOs østre flanke – beroligelse av allierte, avskrekking av Russland og eskaleringskontroll
Full text linkI takt med økende russisk revansjisme og aggresjon fra 2014 har USAs tilnærming til militær tilstedeværelse på NATOs østre flanke gjennomgått en endring. Overordnet kan utviklingen oppfattes som endring i rasjonale fra beroligelse av allierte til avskrekking av Russland gjennom straff og de seneste år avskrekking gjennom nektelse. Dette har resultert i endrede strukturer for tilstedeværelse, med påfølgende endring i disposisjoner på bakken som har bidratt til å øke troverdigheten til NATOs avskrekkingsdoktrine. Den retoriske offensiviteten i den amerikanske strategiske kommunikasjonen har også blitt mer kraftfull og øvingsaktiviteten oppskalert. Dette indikerer endring i amerikansk oppfatning av hva som oppfattes som eskalerende virksomhet. Det foreligger tverrpolitisk enighet om videreføring av amerikansk deep-engagement i Europa, som også kan spores i det amerikanske militærvesenet. Dette underbygger teorien om en «institusjonalisert praksis» for militær tilstedeværelse og stormaktsbestandighet. Den økte troverdigheten til USAs og NATOs avskrekking på den østre flanken senker sannsynligheten for fait accompli-scenarioer. Dette har sikkerhetspolitiske implikasjoner for land lokalisert andre steder som Russland kan ønske å utfordre, både konvensjonelt og med sammensatte virkemidler.Utviklingen av USAs militære tilstedeværelse på NATOs østre flanke – beroligelse av allierte, avskrekking av Russland og eskaleringskontrollpublishedVersio
Climate Change in Central Asia : Decarbonization, Energy Transition and Climate Policy
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‘The generation that will inherit Syria’: education as citizen aid and political opportunity
Full text linkGrassroots initiatives to provide education were an integral part of efforts to stem the humanitarian disaster unleashed by the armed con- flict in Syria. This article studies activists who organised informal school- ing for children amid the devastating war. Building on life story interviews, we highlight the versatility of initiatives in the field of edu- cation for citizens who simultaneously engage in humanitarian action and mobilise for political change. There is a natural concern to detach humanitarian work from politics in order to gain and maintain a space for action. This has distanced the study of humanitarian aid from social movements research, which focuses on long-term struggles over power and political structures. We maintain, however, that the social move- ment literature generally, and studies on structural and cognitive polit- ical opportunity specifically, can help refine our understanding of the illusive nature of citizen aid. Our findings indicate that Syrians involved in humanitarian educational activities constructed their own structure of opportunities by monitoring shifting political and humanitarian con- ditions. Opening schools was a technical and pragmatic solution to the educational disaster caused by war. At the same time, it was motivated by a long-lasting desire to free Syria from its political plight and to offer an alternative.‘The generation that will inherit Syria’: education as citizen aid and political opportunitypublishedVersio
Should the Security Council Engage with Implications of Climate Change? Let’s Look at the Scientific Evidence
Full text linkCClimate change is a controversial topic at the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The Council has adopted over 70 resolutions and presidential statements that address aspects of climate-related peace and security implications. However, a few members strongly oppose adding climate change to the Security Council agenda. When a thematic resolution on the security implications of climate change came up for a vote in December 2021, Russia went so far as to veto it. India also voted against it, while China abstained. But twelve Council members voted in favor, and 113 non-members co-sponsored the resolution—the second highest number of co-sponsors in Security Council history. Although motives for opposing the climate security agenda in the Council vary, one important argument rests on a perception that the scientific evidence for a connection between climate and conflict is limited.Should the Security Council Engage with Implications of Climate Change? Let’s Look at the Scientific EvidencepublishedVersio
Energy justice and energy democracy: Separated twins, rival concepts or just buzzwords?
Full text linkMany new concepts have emerged to better capture socio-technical change in energy systems from a normative perspective. Two of the most visible, popularized, and politically charged are Energy Justice and Energy Democracy, but it is the tension between them that has drawn recent controversy. Instead of arguing for the superiority of one over the other, this paper's aim is to demonstrate their differential contribution and areas of productive overlap using both quantitative and qualitative measures. It presents the results of the systematic review of 495 articles on Energy Democracy and Energy Justice in the Web of Science database, with attention to the geographical focus, scale, technology, and social groups dominant in both literatures. We find that both the concepts and literatures employing them are very closely related, almost like twins. The key difference is the failure of the Energy Democracy literature to engage with questions of energy poverty and distributional (in)justice. For Energy Justice, we find that despite lip service paid to, for example, the Global South, normative research in energy transitions sphere remains highly Western-centric. We highlight, too, that both terms are most often used as buzzwords and that this undermines knowledge building and the radical potential for change which is inherent in the two concepts and their applications.Energy justice and energy democracy: Separated twins, rival concepts or just buzzwords?publishedVersio
Nomads and Warlords, Chadian Forces in African Peace Operations
Full text linkoai:nupi.brage.unit.no:11250/3081067Despite criticism of the United Nations (UN) as peacekeepers “hiding behind sandbags,” by the former president of Chad, the Chadian military has become a critical enabler of African-led and UN peace operations. This paper posits that the effectiveness of the Chadian forces stems from refined and modified nomad and warlord structures and attributes used during Chad’s various conflicts to build and improve its national army. This has allowed the Chadian regime to exercise and project power, thus, producing one of Africa’s most effective forces for current conflicts and challenges. Thus, Chad’s military leadership reflects a trend of states that use military prowess to project force, while maintaining international partnerships with permanent members of the unsc (the US and France), UN peacekeeping missions and African ad hoc security initiatives. Finally, the paper examines the implications of this trend for the evolving nature of African Peace and Security Architecture.Nomads and Warlords, Chadian Forces in African Peace OperationspublishedVersio
The EU's CBAM and Its ‘Significant Others’: Three Perspectives on the Political Fallout from Europe's Unilateral Climate Policy Initiative
Full text linkAs part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission has launched a tool to protect the fulfilment of Europe's climate policy targets – the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). It is thought that the CBAM will spark stiff resistance from Europe's external trade partners, potentially undermining the initiative. How this plays out will depend in part on who the opponents and potential allies are – and how the European Union (EU) engages with them. But which non-EU countries have a stake in the CBAM? The criteria for selecting third countries that are relevant for the CBAM are often implicit, which can lead to contradictory policy analyses and confused climate diplomacy. This research note compares three different perspectives that result in different lists of non-EU countries that are important for the success of the CBAM. Awareness of these three perspectives amongst EU actors can help the CBAM succeed.publishedVersio
Whose Revisionism, Which International Order? Social Structure and Its Discontents
Full text linkWhile the distinction between status quo and revisionist states is well established in International Relations, only more recently have scholars begun to refine the concept of revisionism itself, emphasizing that revisionism comes in different forms. A number of typologies have been introduced to capture this diversity. In this article, we offer a critique of these typologies, highlighting how many of these works elide the rule-governed and contextual nature of what counts as revisionism. Building on an understanding of international orders as social structures, we argue that the revisionist character of state conduct can only be determined with reference to the conception of the legitimate ends and means current in a particular international order. This leads us to distinguish between three types of revisionism: competitive revisionism that is transgressive of the legitimate means; creative revisionism that is transgressive of the legitimate ends; and revolutionary revisionism that is transgressive of legitimate ends and means. We further emphasize that determining the revisionist character of state conduct always involves interpretation and judgment. The concern for analytical precision conveyed by the development of different typologies of revisionism must therefore be followed by an equally deliberate concern for the politics of revisionism—in both theory and practice.Whose Revisionism, Which International Order? Social Structure and Its DiscontentspublishedVersio