NUPI Research Online (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs)
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Complexities of Achieving Strategic Stability in Southern Asia: An Indian Perspective
Get PDFThe concept of strategic stability provides a framework for strengthening security in the nuclear age. This report explores the possibilities and constraints for achieving strategic stability in South Asia. The strained relations between India, on the one hand, and Pakistan and China, on the other, make it difficult to achieve such stability. Nevertheless, it is important to explore new alternatives in a region that is frequently exposed to crises, and where some countries have nuclear weapons strategies based on manipulating risks to bolster deterrence. The report discusses various measures that could weaken the incentives for the use of nuclear weapons.publishedVersio
Slow Stagnation, Sudden Revolution? Post-Covid-19 Prospects for Political Change in Russia and Belarus
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A Comprehensive Strategy EU Strategy for Africa Political Dialogue: Governance, Security and Migration. BRIEFING Requested by the AFET committee (This paper was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs)
No full textMuch has changed since the creation of the Joint Africa-European Union (EU) Strategy in 2007. The developing world has been changing fast. Development policy and practices are also transforming, albeit at a slower pace. The divide between emerging economies and ‘fragile states’ is increasing. This is also the case in Africa. As not only Africa, but also the EU-Africa relationship is changing and evolving into new dimensions, there is clearly a need to develop a new European strategy, constructed on the basis of an emerging continent. Africa is home to the youngest population in the world and some of the world’s most fragile states. However, it is also a continent with emerging markets and more effective governments. This brief aims to clarify how well the new Strategy must manage to mainstream a European approach to Africa that considers both the inter-continental dialogue and the diversity of development on this emerging continent within the fields of governance, security and migration. As the COVID-19 has turned into a pandemic, the brief also suggests that the new European strategy must reflect this development and the European Parliament should closely monitor the situation as it discusses the Strategy.publishedVersio
COVID-19 and the African Union. Challenges, prospects and side-effects Summary
No full textThe African Union is coordinating the effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Africa, but the measures introduced are also significantly disrupting the reforms, programmes and operations of the AU.publishedVersio
The Fragility Dilemma and Divergent Security Complexes in the Sahel
Get PDFDespite an exponential increase in international resources devoted to the Sahel, the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate. This is largely due to the so-called “fragility dilemma”, faced by fragile states that are in critical need of external assistance, but have limited absorption capacity and are governed by sitting regimes that dictate the terms and upon which external actors must rely. This dilemma has contributed to an increasing divergence between a state-centric regional and a people-centric transnational security complex. In particular, a heavy-handed approach to violent extremism and external policies aimed at curbing “irregular” migration have had a number of unintended consequences, disrupting livelihoods and further exacerbating instability in the Sahelian states.publishedVersio
The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States
Get PDFNordic governments frequently broadcast their ambition to do more together on the international stage. The five Nordic states (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway) also share many basic goals as foreign policy actors, including a steadfast and vocal commitment to safeguarding the ‘rules-based international order.’ Why then, do we not see more organized Nordic foreign policy collaboration, for example in the form of a joint ‘grand strategy’ on core foreign policy issues, or in relation to great powers and international organizations? In this article, we draw on Charles Tilly’s concept of ‘repertoires’ to address the discrepancy between ambitions and developments in Nordic foreign policy cooperation, highlighting how the bundles of policy instruments—repertoires—that each Nordic state has developed over time take on an identity-defining quality. We argue that the Nordic states have invested in and become attached to their foreign policy differences, niches, and ‘brands.’ On the international scene, and especially when interacting with significant other states, they tend not only to stick to what they know how to do and are accustomed to doing but also to promote their national rather than their Nordic profile. While Nordic cooperation forms part of all the five states’ foreign policy repertoire in specific policy areas, these are marginal compared to the distinctive repertoires on which each Nordic state rely in relation to more powerful states. It is therefore unlikely that we will see a ‘common order’ among the Nordic states in the foreign policy domain in the near future.publishedVersio
Staten, barnevernet og utenrikspolitikken. Fra indre anliggende til internasjonal konfliktsone
Get PDFNorske diplomater bruker mye tid og ressurser på å håndtere internasjonal kritikk av norsk barnevern. Barnevernssaker kan bli utenrikspolitikk når kritikken fremmes i bilaterale fora eller autoritative institusjoner utfordrer Norges omdømme som foregangsland i barne- og familiepolitikken. Vi kartlegger først kritikken, før vi ser på UD og norske diplomaters håndtering av slike saker. Til slutt diskuterer vi hvorfor norske begrunnelser knyttet til «barnets beste» kan skjerpe konflikten heller enn å dempe den.acceptedVersio
The Dangers of Disconnection: Oscillations in Political Violence on Lake Chad
Get PDFNarrations on fragility and resilience in the Sahel paint a picture about the region’s inherent ungovernability that lead to consider an endless state- and peace-building process as the most feasible governance solution. Everyday practices of violent entrepreneurship, coalescing with inter-community and land-tenure conflicts, now inform social relations and are transforming moral economies around Lake Chad. While competition over territory suitable for farming, grazing and fishing has intensified, dispute-settlement practices organised by community-level authorities have proven ineffective and lacking the necessary means to respond to the encroachment of a wide range of interests claimed by increasingly powerful actors. Meanwhile, communities organised in self-defence militias are undergoing a process of progressive militarisation that tends to normalise violence and legitimise extra-judicial vigilante justice, further empowering capitalendowed arms suppliers gravitating in the jihadi galaxy, such as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).The Dangers of Disconnection: Oscillations in Political Violence on Lake ChadpublishedVersio
Chad’s Pivotal Role in the Regional Crisis
Get PDFAn analysis of Chad's regime role in the context of the military and humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad BasinpublishedVersio