| Flåten, Lars Tore. 2019. India Elects: what are the implications for the country’s foreign and security policy? IFS Insight 4/2019 | Flåten, Lars Tore. 2019. India Elects: what are the implications for the country’s foreign and security policy? IFS Insight 4/2019 | <p>The Indian election is already underway
and takes place in seven phases, from
11 April to 19 May. India had entered
election mode when the terror attack in
Kashmir claimed the lives of forty police
force personnel. This event, as well as the
subsequent Indian response, placed security policy higher up on the agenda than it
usually is in Indian elections. For this reason, it is pertinent to explore the foreign
policy legacy of the current government
in India, which is dominated by the Hindu
nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The article also examines what is at stake
for India and Asia when the country’s 900
Million eligible voters cast their ballot.<br></p><p>Read <a href="/ifs/Sider/Flaten_India_Elects_what_are-_the_implications_for_the_country’s_foreign_and_security_policy.aspx">IFS Insight here.</a><br></p> |
| Saxi, Håkon Lunde. 2019. ‘The rise, fall, and resurgence of Nordic defence cooperation’. International Affairs 95, nr. 3 (2019): 659–680. | Saxi, Håkon Lunde. 2019. ‘The rise, fall, and resurgence of Nordic defence cooperation’. International Affairs 95, nr. 3 (2019): 659–680. | <p class="forsvaretElement-p">After the end of the Cold War the Nordic states gradually began to work together on military issues beyond UN peacekeeping operations, including in NATO operations, on training and education, as well as on armament development and acquisition. Between 2006 and 2013 these efforts reached their aspirational and rhetorical zenith, as the Nordic states agreed in principle to integrate their armed forces closely. The main catalyst was the conviction that small states could no longer maintain balanced and modern military forces on a purely national basis. The core countries in this integrationist experiment were Norway, Sweden and Finland. The integrationist idea soon faced insurmountable difficulties and expensive setbacks, leading to its quiet abandonment by early 2014. At approximately the same time, the Ukrainian crisis caused a change in the Nordic states' perception of Russia, from a difficult partner to a strategic challenger. The need to work together to meet Russia's revisionist challenge in the Nordic–Baltic region produced a resurgence in Nordic defence cooperation, focused on making the Nordic armed forces able to operate together in a crisis rather than full-blown defence integration. Nordic cooperation today serves as a complement to NATO, the EU and enhanced bilateral cooperation with the major Western states.<br></p><p class="forsvaretElement-p">Read the article in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/95/3/659/5426080">International affairs </a><br></p> |
| Ida Maria Oma and Magnus Petersson. 2019. Exploring the role of dependence in influencing small states’ alliance contributions: A reputation mechanism argument and assessment. European Security. 6 March | Ida Maria Oma and Magnus Petersson. 2019. Exploring the role of dependence in influencing small states’ alliance contributions: A reputation mechanism argument and assessment. European Security. 6 March | <p class="forsvaretElement-p">Dependence has been demonstrated to be a main factor driving small states’ alliance contributions. However, the causal pathway linking dependence on the one hand, and small states’ contributions on the other, is seldom explicated and assessed. Furthermore, the ways in which dependence may shape, not only drive, such contributions, have received little attention. The purpose of this article is to elaborate the role of dependence in these regards. Drawing on Glenn H. Snyder’s “fear of abandonment” concept, it is argued that reputation is the main mechanism linking dependence and contributions. The article specifies the causal pathway and assesses it against case-study evidence of Norway’s and Sweden’s military participation in ISAF. The process tracing lends much support to the proposed mechanism, and comparison helps clarify how different alliance relationship status (member or partner) impacts on the theorised causal chain.</p><p class="forsvaretElement-p">Go to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09662839.2019.1589455">Taylor & Francis Online to read the article</a><br></p> |
| Torunn Laugen Haaland and Elin Gustavsen, 2019. “From commemoration to celebration: the making of the Norwegian Liberation and Veterans Day”, Memory studies, Online first, 17 February 2019. | Torunn Laugen Haaland and Elin Gustavsen, 2019. “From commemoration to celebration: the making of the Norwegian Liberation and Veterans Day”, Memory studies, Online first, 17 February 2019. | <p class="forsvaretElement-p">This article examines how and to what extent recent wars affect war commemoration. We do this through an analysis of the establishment of a Veterans Day in Norway, instituted on May 8, the traditional Liberation Day in memory of World War 2. We document how this merger has transformed May 8 from a low-key war commemoration to a celebration of the Armed Forces. Through our study, we emphasize how authorities attempt to form new mnemonic practices to give meaning to recent wars. These practices were informed by transnational events, but also constrained by deeply embedded national genres of commemoration. In Norway, the Liberation and Veterans Day has become a secluded event, attended by political and military leaders, but largely ignored by the public. We argue that commemorative practices that fail to resonate with shared experiences in society and are at odds with national identities will have limited appeal and support.</p><p class="forsvaretElement-p">Go to: <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1750698019829867">Sage Journals</a><br></p> |