NUPI Research Online (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs)
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The Inadvertent Influence of Peacekeeping and Peace Support Operations on Ghana’s Armed Forces
Get PDFOver the last two-three decades, the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU) and Regional Economic Community or Regional Mechanisms (RECs/ RMs) have significantly improved the efficiency of their Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs) and Peace Support Operations (PSOs) across the African continent. Arguably, the combination of effort(s) by the UN, AU and RECs/ RMs since the early 1990s has facilitated a decline in the number and intensity of armed conflicts, but equally, over recent decades, there has been an expan-sion of PKOs and PSOs across Africa.1,2,3 Undoubtedly, AU and RECs/RMs member states have gained considerable experience in PKOs and PSOs, expediting their greater contributions to international peace and security matterspublishedVersio
A Cooperative Regime for the Arctic: Addressing Sea Lines of Communication and Nuclear Weapons
Get PDFThe UN Convention on the Law of the Seas has established a solid legal foundation for Arctic activities, but it does not prevent the geopolitical rivalry between the USA, China and Russia from extending into the region. Joint action to alleviate upcoming tensions are presently on hold because of the war in Ukraine, but in the meantime, cooperative approaches are worth exploring. Two interrelated issues merit particular attention: how to protect sea lines of communication (SLOCs) without triggering big power conflict, and how to deal with the problems posed by nuclear weapons.A Cooperative Regime for the Arctic: Addressing Sea Lines of Communication and Nuclear WeaponspublishedVersio
Changing or frozen narratives? The Arctic in Russian media and expert commentary, 2021–2022
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Enhancing the Effectiveness of African-led Peace Support Operations through an Adaptive Stabilisation Approach
Get PDFThe African continent’s security landscape is constantly changing. Alongside this evolution, changes in the global order have emerged, a decline of multilateralism and an overreliance on security tools to defeat terrorism across Africa. In contrast, these challenges have allowed the African continent and its peace and security mechanisms under the African Peace and Security Architecture to respond to these insecurities through African-led Peace Support Operations (pso)—amongst other mechanisms. These African capacities, particularly in pso, have not always been consistently deployed as part of a multidimensional approach to dealing with insecurity. African-led pso s have evolved and developed unique characteristics distinguishing them from traditional peacekeeping operations. However, their increased use as a sole mechanism to deal with insecurity has led to a deficiency in broader conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and peacemaking mechanisms. This has made it difficult for African-led pso s to tackle the growing and intersecting challenges and dynamics the continent faces now and in the future. This article posits that while African-led pso s have come to represent an increase in African agency, capability and utilisation, their increased use to deal with insecurity has led to African-led pso s failing to deal with intersecting and growing challenges and dynamics the continent faces. Thus, the article argues that there is a need for African-led pso s to be more agile, adaptive and comprehensive through the adoption of an Adaptive Stabilisation Approach.Enhancing the Effectiveness of African-led Peace Support Operations through an Adaptive Stabilisation ApproachpublishedVersio
Public Policy Europeanisation in Response to the Covid-19 Crisis: The Case of Job Retention Schemes
Get PDFTo what extent and how did the Covid-19-pandemic trigger the Europeanisation of public policy in the EU member states? This article addresses this question by exploring member states’ responses to the labour market implications of the pandemic. Although the EU due to its free movement principles in effect has a common labour market, labour market policies have remained in the hands of the member states. Nonetheless, we find that they responded in a surprisingly similar manner to rising unemployment caused by lockdowns. Was this policy change linked to Europeanisation processes, and if so, in what way? We find that member states’ responses were related both to economic incentives and to contingent learning playing out in largely informal settings at the EU level. Our findings shed light on how crises may function as a critical juncture that triggers policy change, and how the EU may play a key role in such change. Our study thus also adds insights to our understanding of the mechanisms that underpin Europeanisation, in particular by shedding light on the importance of informal learning processes and the influence of the European Commission also in formally less integrated policy areas.publishedVersio
Norwegian Services Trade and the EEA
No full textDenne artikkelen ser på korleis EØS-medlemskapet har påverka norsk tenestehandel. Ved hjelp av ein gravitasjonsmodell studerer eg først verknaden av EØS for handel med tenester generelt. Deretter går artikkelen inn på sentrale tenestesektorar og studerer effekten av spesifikke handelspolitiske indikatorar. Analysen viser at EØS-avtalen er assosiert med rundt 35 prosent høgare eksport samanlikna med ein frihandelsavtale. I finansielle tenester og kommunikasjonstenester er eksporten rundt 50 prosent høgare med EØS-avtalen samanlikna med ein handelsavtale. Brexit endrar desse estimata overraskande lite. Opne, velregulerte og harmoniserte marknader for kommunikasjonstenester er spesielt viktig for tenestehandelen.Norwegian Services Trade and the EEA = Norsk tenestehandel og EØSNorwegian Services Trade and the EEApublishedVersio
Loss of Tonga’s telecommunication – what happened, how was it managed and what were the consequences?
No full textIn January 2022 the subsea volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai in Tonga had a major eruption which also cut the country’s communication lines nationally, between Tonga’s inhabited islands and the outside world. The damage led to a complete halt in international communication (a “digital darkness”) which meant that, in the period immediately after the outbreak, not much was known about the extent of the damage in Tonga. Due to very limited access to contact with both the authorities and the population of Tonga, it was only during overflights carried out by the Australian and New Zealand air forces that one could begin to map the extent of the damage and the need for assistance.Loss of Tonga’s telecommunication – what happened, how was it managed and what were the consequences?publishedVersio
Convenience or complementarity: the African Union’s partnership with the United Nations in Sudan and South Sudan
Get PDFOver the past 20 years, the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) have developed aunique partnership rooted in complementarity, respect and African ownership. To reaffirmthis partnership, the United Nations Secretary-General and Chairperson of the AfricanUnion (UN) Commission signed a Joint UN-AU framework for Enhanced Partnership inPeace and Security in 2017. Nevertheless, despite previous lessons learned, gaps incollaboration and strategic thinking, and oversight exist on the ground between the AUand the UN. Drawing on the case(s) of Sudan and South Sudan to further understand theAU’s partnership with the UN through the lens of complementarity and convenience, thepaper arrives at a novel conceptualisation of the AU and UN partnership through theirpolitical missions. The paperfinds that the AU-UN framework is sporadically implemented,and the AU’s role in the partnership on the ground is one of convenience, whereas, incontrast, the UN’s role is one of complementarity aimed at achieving legitimacy. The paperconcludes that both organisations in-country were constrained by the lack of collaborationand synergy, which led to a misalignment of joint priorities, impacting the effectiveness ofthe partnership.publishedVersio