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1. Common fears, common opportunities? Czechia and Norway in the changing international context

Author:
Benjamin Tallis, Elena Zhirukhina, Mark Galeotti, and Jan Mazač
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute of International Relations Prague
Abstract:
The policy brief is a result of conclusions from roundtable discussions with policy makers and researchers that took place in Prague and Oslo in late 2019 and early 2020. The researchers studied how to better respond to fear factors and move beyond them in foreign policy. A key observation made in the new brief is that while changes in American, Chinese and Russian foreign policies may trigger anxiety and uncertainty among smaller European states, fears like this can also have productive effects on foreign policy thinking and practice. For states like Czechia and Norway, it can create opportunities for re-thinking support networks and reaching out to new partners. While Norway and Czechia have different historical, geographical and (sometimes) political points of departure, the two states’ assessment of recent international developments is similar. This creates room for conversation and mutual learning - including how to best respond to increased levels of rivalry between great powers, and changing dynamics in the EU and NATO. There are also similarities in how Norway and Czechia perceive their regional collaboration with their respective Nordic and Visegrad states – and how there is considerable scope for them to branch out from their regional formats.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, NATO, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Norway, and Czech Republic

2. The "Moving Geography": Why are Scandinavian countries increasingly interested in the Middle East?

Author:
FARAS
Publication Date:
11-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
Abstract:
The dynamics of the Middle East region have gained special attention from the three Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) over the past years. There are numerous indicators for this rising level of interest. The most prominent of which are the establishment of institutes for dialogue and cooperation, launching programs for the Danish-Arab partnership, opening Middle East studies center in a Swedish university, and hosting a new round of dialogue for the parties to the Yemeni conflict. Other indicators include providing funds to support future local elections in Libya, supporting non-governmental organizations aimed at assisting internal displaced persons and refugees through local integration or resettlement, and increasing financial incentives for refugees, who return to their home countries. There are various motives behind the Scandinavian interest in the region, including curbing refugee flows, preventing terrorist attacks, containing the threat of extremism, and confronting the Iranian threat.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Geopolitics, and Neutrality
Political Geography:
Middle East, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Scandinavia

3. Some Assembly Required: Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement

Author:
Timothy Carney
Publication Date:
11-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Regional mediators and international facilitators helped the two main opposing forces in Sudan's fifty-year civil war, the National Congress Party (NCP) of the North and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) of the South, to reach a detailed Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) after two-and-a-half years of negotiation, from 2002 to 2005. The United States served as the catalyst for the peace process and then became part of a group of facilitators including the United Kingdom, Norway, and Italy. At different points during negotiations, each of these countries exerted influence on the Sudanese parties. Kenya took the lead in mediating the negotiations under General Lazaro Sumbeiywo. Sudan Vice President Ali Osman Taha, representing the North, and Dr. John Garang, representing the South, spent fifteen months negotiating the final agreement in Naivasha, Kenya. Implementation of the CPA requires continuing good security with minimal fighting, agreement on the boundaries of North and South that affect the distribution of Sudan's oil wealth, completion of midterm elections, and a referendum in the South. Slow implementation of key provisions of the CPA is causing Sudanese to question the political will and even the good faith of the northern government. Failure to provide an immediate peace dividend, lack of competence in managing southern expectations, and corruption have led to public criticism of the southern authorities. Hope is waning that the CPA will pave the way to a modern, united Sudan with a government responsive to all its peoples. The SPLM/A leadership is focusing on developing the South rather than creating a national political movement. The crisis in Darfur has diverted the international community's attention. Implementing the CPA will require sustained international pressure and imagination to help resolve numerous political, economic, and social problems.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, United States, United Kingdom, Sudan, Norway, and Italy

4. The State, the People and the Armed Forces – a Genealogical Outline of the Legitimacy of the Armed Forces in Norway

Author:
Karsten Friis
Publication Date:
02-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The Norwegian armed forces in the early 21st century is in a phase of rapid change and transition. International missions are about to become its main task, whereas traditional domestic territorial defence is becoming less and less relevant. Is this transition purely a technical adjustment to a new security environment, or does it also entail more fundamental changes in the relationship between the armed forces, the state and the population? Could the military risk to lose its popular legitimacy? To grasp the current changes, it is important to understand the foundations of the relationship between the military, the state and the people. As well as how these relations have evolved over time. This is certainly not the first time in history the armed forces are facing fundamental changes.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Defense Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Norway

5. An Index of Donor Performance

Author:
David Roodman
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The Commitment to Development Index of the Center for Global Development rates 21 rich countries on the “development-friendliness” of their policies. It is revised and updated annually. The component on foreign assistance combines quantitative and qualitative measures of official aid, and of fiscal policies that support private charitable giving. The quantitative measure uses a net transfers concept, as distinct from the net flows concept in the net Official Development Assistance measure of the Development Assistance Committee. The qualitative factors are: a penalty for tying aid; a discounting system that favors aid to poorer, better-governed recipients; and a penalty for “project proliferation.” The charitable giving measure is based on an estimate of the share of observed private giving to developing countries that is attributable to a) lower overall taxes or b) specific tax incentives for giving. De-spite the adjustments, overall results are dominated by differences in quantity of official aid given. This is because while there is a seven-fold range in net concessional transfers/GDP among the scored countries, variation in overall aid quality across donors appears far lower, and private giving is generally small. Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden score highest while the largest donors in absolute terms, the United States and Japan, rank at or near the bottom. Standings by the 2006 methodology have been relatively stable since 1995.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Economics, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, Norway, and Netherlands

6. Trans-Atlantic Relations: A Norwegian Perspective

Author:
Knut Vollebaek
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Institute at University of Wisconsin, Madison
Abstract:
Gilles Bousquet, Dean of International Studies and Director of the International Institute, welcomed guests to the event. Ambassador Vollebæk was introduced by Alfred Defago, former Swiss ambassador to the United States and currently International Institute Visiting Professor. Professor Defago, who invited Ambassador Vollebæk to the UW–Madison campus in conjunction with his International Studies seminar on “Evolving European Perspectives on American Politics and Society,” described Ambassador Vollebæk as one of Europe's top diplomats and as one of the most influential and intellectually brilliant leaders of the diplomatic community in Washington, D.C. Ambassador Vollebæk, a career diplomat, served as Foreign Minister of Norway from 1997–2000 and in that capacity was chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. A tireless advocate for international human rights, he was a leader in efforts to stop the atrocities in Kosovo and played key roles in monitoring conflicts and brokering negotiations in Chechnya, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.
Topic:
International Relations and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, America, Europe, Washington, Middle East, Norway, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, and Kosovo

7. International R Spillovers and the Effect of Absorptive Capacity

Author:
Leo A. Grünfeld
Publication Date:
08-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
We study the productivity effects of R spillovers through imports, foreign direct investment and domestic intermediates, using a highly disaggregated data set for Norwegian business sectors. As opposed to the large body of similar studies, we explicitly analyse the importance of absorptive capacity effects, claiming that the positive contribution from R spillovers is an increasing function of the R activities of the economic units that receive the spillovers. We find strong support for the existence of R spillovers through imports and domestic intermediates, but no sign of such spillovers through foreign ownership. Surprisingly, we identify absorptive capacity effects relating to spillovers from imports, but no such effects with respect to domestic intermediates. One possible explanation is that the cost of learning from international R sources is larger than from domestic R sources, implying that own R investments can counteract the negative effect of geographical and cultural distance on R spillovers.
Topic:
International Relations, Economics, Industrial Policy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Norway

8. From territorial defence to comprehensive security? European integration and the changing Norwegian and Swedish security identities

Author:
Pernille Rieker
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper analyses the relationship between the European integration process and the recent changes in the Norwegian and the Swedish national security identities. The aim of the paper is to compare developments in the Norwegian and the Swedish security identities in the 1990s and to evaluate the extent and scope of Europeanisation in the two cases. The fact that both Norway and Sweden had very traditional security discourses at the beginning of the 1990s and that it is possible to detect shifts away from this traditionalism in parallel with the development towards a European security dimension should prove that a Europeanisation has indeed occurred. While several researchers have studied the influence of the EU on national institutions and policies, less attention has been given to the Europeanisation of national security identities. This paper is therefore an attempt to fill this gap. The fact that Sweden has become a member of the EU while Norway has not also makes these two countries good cases for examining the extent and scope of their respective Europeanisation.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Nationalism
Political Geography:
Europe, Norway, and Sweden