Blog post archive

Thursday, 9 Jan 2025
Russian Counter-Offensive in the International Arena Has Lost Momentum

One of the key goals for 2024 that President Vladimir Putin had apparently set at the end of the second year of the Ukraine war was to execute a sustained foreign policy counter-offensive to reduce Russia’s international isolation to irrelevance. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov tries to claim success in achieving ...

Tuesday, 5 Nov 2024
Putin and Kim Look for Opportunities Amid US Elections Turmoil

The US presidential election, which has been dominating the global news, will come to its natural culmination on November 5, even if the outcome remains uncertain for many more days. Even in Russia, where war and inflation are major concerns, official sources report that more than 60 percent of adults ...

Tuesday, 14 Nov 2023
Russia Tries and Fails to Gain a Foothold in Asia-Pacific

Few prospects worry Moscow more than a potential reduction of tensions between the United States and China. Such a development, even if half-hearted and temporary, would threaten a curtailment of Beijing’s support for Russia in the international arena — at least from Moscow’s perspective. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit ...

Monday, 16 Oct 2023
A New Geopolitical Chapter for the Middle East?

In recent years, several Arab countries have adopted a more pragmatic attitude towards Israel. Some have even signed official agreements. But much geopolitical progress is now in danger of being reversed – and not only within the region. Over recent years, the Palestinians have become increasingly isolated in the Arab ...

Wednesday, 27 Sep 2023
Zelenskyy Fights Difficult Diplomatic Battles, as Russia’s Isolation Deepens

Neither New York, nor Washington rolled out the red carpet for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He came ready for tough challenges and succeeded in making the case for sustained global and US attention to condemning and defeating Russia’s all-out aggression. Zelenskyy spoke at the opening session of the United Nations ...

Monday, 8 May 2023
The Demand For US Leadership Outpaces Resentment Against It

President Joe Biden’s long-awaited announcement of decision to run for the second presidential term has brought into a sharper focus the new quality of US leadership in global affairs, which he has delivered, perhaps without any grand strategic design. The 2024 US elections will be run and determined primarily by ...

Friday, 17 Feb 2023
Towards a Chip-Alliance?

Long-lasting trilateral negotiations between the US, the Netherlands and Japan are expected to result in joint efforts to limit China’s domestic production of chips. The decision represents a symbolic win for the Biden Administration, but further negotiations will determine the scope and significance of the emerging “Chip-Alliance”. On January 27th, ...

Wednesday, 26 Oct 2022
The US Declares Chip-War on China

The United States recently announced a new set of restrictions on the export of advanced semiconductors, chip-making equipment, and supercomputer components to China. The interim final rule further escalates the geopolitical dispute between the US and China and raises concerns about the increasing fragmentation of the digital domain. The interim ...

Friday, 23 Sep 2022
The Peace Researcher Is a Deeply Worried Optimist

Henrik Urdal, Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), laughs out loud when our journalist points out all the worries that have emerged during their conversation. He does indeed believe that many left-wingers can end up supporting Norwegian EU membership. But he fears continued political polarization in the United ...

Thursday, 14 Jul 2022
Should Norway Join the EU? Research on Democracy and Peace Suggests So.

The debate about Norwegian EU membership has gained new life in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Norway has applied for EU-membership on multiple occasions. Charles de Gaulle blocked two applications in the 60s and the Norwegian population voted NO in referendums in 1972 and 1994 despite a clear ...

Tuesday, 12 Jan 2021
The United States Must Be Viewed as a Flawed Democracy at Significant Risk of Transitioning into Dictatorship

A study of flawed democracies and semi-dictatorships describes a common pattern of events as follows: After having lost an election, the sitting president claims that the election was invalid, whereupon he attempts a coup d’état and his supporters storm the parliament. A few years ago, this sequence of events would ...

Monday, 13 Jul 2020
The Legacy of White Violence in the US

On September 29, 1919, in Phillips County, Arkansas, a deputy died while trying to break up a labor meeting of black farmers. The next day rumors swirled about an impending black insurrection. In response, a white mob of up to 1,000 strong formed and indiscriminately attacked blacks across the county ...

Monday, 15 Jun 2020
Is 2020 = 1968?

People around the world are grappling to understand events in the United States at the moment regarding the current wave of protest and protest policing.  A few events readily come to mind in this comparison but the one that probably carries the greatest resonance would be the uprisings/disturbances/riots that followed ...

Wednesday, 10 Jun 2020
Overcoming Mistrust in Afghanistan's Peace Process

The hope of pathways to peace in Afghanistan, following the Doha Agreement on 29 February, has been crushed by mutual mistrust. Over a decade of my research on comparative peace process suggests that while all peace processes are fragile in the early phase, successful ones are characterized by political and rebel leaders with ...

Tuesday, 9 Jun 2020
The Role of State-Supported Disinformation in the Wake of COVID-19

On April 1 the European External Action Service (EEA) released a report alleging China and Russia had carried out a coordinated disinformation campaign around the origin and the spread of COVID-19 to sway public opinion abroad and create divisions among EU members. The report claims that China and Russia are ...

Thursday, 30 Mar 2017
Playing Chinese Whispers with a Megaphone

These days, a press conference at the White House is cringe TV. President Trump greeting world leaders may leave unfortunate viewers squirming in front of the screen. It’s an experience simultaneously entertaining and unpleasant. One thing that already has generated countless internet memes and analyses among the Twitterati is Trump’s ...

Tuesday, 21 Mar 2017
Trump and Threats to Truth, Democracy and Peace

Stein Tønnesson delivered this year’s The Fjord Memorial Lecture  at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Lillehammer. The lecture discusses Trump’s team of advisors, calls for fighting the increasing use of lies in political campaigning, sees Trump’s election as having weakened democracy worldwide, and perceives a major risk to world ...