NUPI Research Online (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs)
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Parental Child Abduction and the State: Identity, Diplomacy and the Duty of Care
Get PDFStates alternate between the roles of ‘caretaker’ and ‘rescuer’ when providing care to citizens abroad. This article suggests that they are more likely to assume the ‘rescuer’ role when core values underpinning their self-identity are at stake. This dynamic is explored by examining a case where a Norwegian mother re-abducted her two children from Morocco. In the process, Norway’s foreign minister authorized shielding the children at the Norwegian Embassy in Rabat, citing ‘Norway’s duty to protect two Norwegian minors in fear of their lives’. A diplomatic conflict between Norway and Morocco followed. The Norwegian response must be seen in light of Norway’s self-identity as a frontrunner for children’s rights. Ultimately, helping the children ‘had’ to trump concerns about diplomatic costs. The broader dilemmas that this case exemplifies should be relevant also to other cases where a state’s concern for a child citizen is pitted against its obligation to diplomatic conventions.publishedVersio
Russia: Public Debate and the Petroleum Sector
No full textIn: Overland I. (ed.) Public Brainpower (2018)In Russia, civil society engagement with the petroleum sector is surprisingly rich and varied for a country that is ranked low on most democracy-related indicators. This chapter finds that there is a lively and varied public debate, with business associations, research institutes, independent experts, indigenous organizations and the few surviving independent media actively and often competently analysing and commenting on a broad range of issues related to the oil and gas sector. Russians were early users of social media, which occasionally also function as a platform for discussion of petroleum policy issues. However, the real impact of civil society on decision-making and policy formulation in the petroleum sector is not as great as the diversity of actors and discussion might imply. One key reason is the tight government control over mainstream media outlets. The situation for free speech and civil society worsened steadily from around 2004 to 2016. As in neighbouring Kazakhstan, the Russian population puts a high premium on stability over freedom. While a central concern in this book is whether the media and civil society have any influence on the petroleum sector, in Russia the paradoxical situation is that the relationship is often reversed: the gas company Gazprom, rather than another organizational vehicle, is used by the government to control key mass media; and the oil company Yukos played a central role in promoting civil society until its main owner Mikhail Khodorkovskiy was arrested and the company was carved up. Keywords: Russia, natural resources, oil, gas, petroleum governance, civil society, public debate, stability, Gazprom, Yukos, social media, Nemtsov, authoritarianismRussia: Public Debate and the Petroleum SectorpublishedVersio
The potential and limits of peace agreements: Colombia and Mali
Get PDFPolitical solutions to armed conflicts are often professed by a plethora of local, regional and international actors. For various reasons, however, peace agreements often remain words on paper, not actions in the field. When can peace agreements make a difference, and help bring a country suffering from war towards a more stable and peaceful existence? This article examines the 2015 peace agreement in Mali and the case of the 2016 peace agreement in Colombia. The 2015 agreement in Mali – despite hopes to end armed violence and provide a framework for peace – has had little impact on the ground and serves to illustrate some of the limitations of peace agreements. Despite significant obstacles and setbacks, the case of Colombia, on the other hand, illustrates some of the potential of peace agreements. These cases, and potential lessons learnt from Colombia to Mali, are discussed in the context of what, with whom and when to negotiate.publishedVersio
Measuring radicalisation: risk assessment conceptualisations and practice in England and Wales
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Haiti: A Political Economy Analysis.
Get PDFHaiti is governed by a small economic elite and the majority of its poor and marginalized population has no access to power. This report analyses the historical roots of the deep socio-economic and political cleavage in Haiti and the consequences of repeated cycles of foreign interference, economic liberalization policies, increased food insecurity and natural disasters. The report reveals that the elections in 2010/2011 and 2015/2016 only served to exacerbate this cleavage. The elections in 2016 had a record low participation of 17.3%. Many of Haiti’s poor abstained from voting due to lack of confidence in the elections, as well as due to extremely difficult socio-economic conditions post-earthquake in 2010/2011, and post-Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Since the earthquake in 2010, there has been a heavy presence of international actors in Haiti. Whereas several of these actors put pressure on Haiti to hold elections relatively short time after the disaster, most of the foreign actors, and particularly the United States and the EU, showed little concern about fraud and low voter turnout. The elections brought President Michel Martelly to power in 2011 and President Jovenel Moïse to power in 2016, both of them representing the economic elite in Haiti. They invested in agribusiness and special economic zones benefiting the economic elite, but further marginalizing small-scale farmers. These two presidents also succeeded in reestablishing the Haitian Army, an institution with extremely bad reputation in Haiti, due to its past severe human rights violations.Haiti: A Political Economy AnalysispublishedVersio
Benefits and Pitfalls of Google Scholar
Get PDFGoogle Scholar (GS) is an important tool that faculty, administrators, and external reviewers use to evaluate the scholarly impact of candidates for jobs, tenure, and promotion. This article highlights both the benefits of GS—including the reliability and consistency of its citation counts and its platform for disseminating scholarship and facilitating networking—and its pitfalls. GS has biases because citation is a social and political process that disadvantages certain groups, including women, younger scholars, scholars in smaller research communities, and scholars opting for risky and innovative work. GS counts also reflect practices of strategic citation that exacerbate existing hierarchies and inequalities. As a result, it is imperative that political scientists incorporate other data sources, especially independent scholarly judgment, when making decisions that are crucial for careers. External reviewers have a unique obligation to offer a reasoned, rigorous, and qualitative assessment of a scholar’s contributions and therefore should not use GS.Benefits and Pitfalls of Google ScholaracceptedVersio
A Place in the Sun? IRENA’s Position in the Global Energy Governance Landscape
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China and Multilateral Development Banks: Positions, Motivations, Ambitions
No full textThe evolving relationships between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the major multilateral development banks (MDBs) reflect China’s evolution as a prospering developing country and a major power. Why has China been nurturing strong interests towards MDBs? This report focuses on changing positions, motivations, and ambitions concerning China and multilateral development banking.China and Multilateral Development Banks: Positions, Motivations, AmbitionspublishedVersio
Introduksjon: Nordiske svar på geopolitiske utfordringer
Get PDFI denne fokusspalten studerer vi hvordan de fem nordiske landene – Danmark, Finland, Island, Norge og Sverige – fremstiller og responderer på endringer i sine internasjonale omgivelser.Introduksjon: Nordiske svar på geopolitiske utfordringerpublishedVersio
Har ikke EØS motstanderne fått med seg brexit?
Get PDFDet pågår en debatt om EØS-avtalen. SV ønsker å utrede alternativer. Noen av EØS-motstanderne ønsker å gå tilbake til frihandelsavtalene fra 1973. Har de ikke fulgt med på brexit? Frihandelsavtalene ga tollfri adgang for store deler av norsk industrieksport. De fungerte i noen grad etter hensikten, men allerede da de trådte i kraft, ble de sett på som utdaterte. De omfattet ikke tjenestehandel, og de ga ikke nok beskyttelse mot den proteksjonismen som kom utover 1970-tallet. EFTA ønsket derfor å utvide samarbeidet med EU. Det ble tidlig klart at det ikke var mulig å oppnå lik behandling kun gjennom å overta EUs regelverk innen utvalgte sektorer. Svaret ble derfor EØS. Langt mer enn en frihandelsavtale Da EØS-avtalen trådte i kraft for 25 år siden, gikk Norge fra å være et tredjeland i forhold til EU til å bli en integrert og likeverdig deltager i EUs indre marked, med samme markedsadgang, rettigheter og plikter for norske bedrifter og borgere som for aktører fra EU-land. I dag er det økonomiske samkvemmet med EU og de 27 EU-statene avgjørende for Norge. Dette er nesten i sin helhet regulert av EØS-avtalen, med bare noen mindre unntak (handel med fisk, landbruksvarer og tredjelandsvarer). EØS-avtalen er langt mer enn en frihandelsavtale. Den inkluderer handel med tjenester, fri etablering, arbeidsvandring, felles finansmarked og konkurranseregler, og felles regler på en lang rekke områder. Det omfatter også reglene om statsstøtte, konkurranse og offentlige anskaffelser. Avtalen har gjort grensekryssende aktivitet enklere, og det har medvirket til et mer effektivt hjemlig marked, med økt velferd for fellesskapet som resultat. Den har gitt høyere verdiskaping for bedriftene og lavere priser for forbrukerne. Avtalen har samlet sett bidratt til en modernisering av norsk økonomi. En frihandelsavtale vil ikke gi disse gevinstene. Forholdet mellom EU og Norge er i utgangspunktet skjevt. EU og medlemsstatene har 500 millioner innbyggere, mens Norge har fem millioner. Norsk økonomi har langt større fordeler av EØS-avtalen enn EU, og vi er også mer avhengig av EØS enn EU. EØS-avtalen hindrer at EU kan utnytte sin handelspolitiske styrke til ugunst for Norge, og den gir deltagelsesrett og noe medvirkning. Med EØS fikk vi også et system for tilsyn og domstolskontroll. Det gir private borgere og bedrifter i inn- og utland større forutsigbarhet og rettssikkerhet enn vanlige handelsavtaler. Fungerer som politisk kompromiss Å si opp EØS vil også vanskeliggjøre samarbeid på områder som ligger utenfor EØS-avtalen. EU har utvidet samarbeidet til områder som justispolitikk, forsvar- og sikkerhetspolitikk. EØS-avtalen har i realiteten fungert som et satsbrett for å bygge samarbeid med EU på disse områdene. (se full tekst)Har ikke EØS motstanderne fått med seg brexit?publishedVersio