The World Stage

Why should we connect the environment to issues of peace and conflict? And in a world of dramatically increased geopolitical tensions, is it possible for cooperation on climate change and environmental issues to contribute to positive change at the level of great power politics? In this episode, Ashok Swain (Uppsala University) and Cedric de Coning (NUPI) talk about these issues with Thor Olav Iversen (NUPI). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Arctic continues to be transformed and impacted by global forces, from declining sea ice on the Arctic Ocean, through new summers of devastating wildland fires, to the wide-reaching political consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine.The Arctic is also a vibrant and varied region and homeland, and marked by three decades of post Cold War efforts at strengthening circumpolar governance.What options are there for moving Arctic governance forward, and what needs to be done first?In this episode of The World Stage NUPI Research Professor Elana Wilson-Rowe is joined in the studio by Edward Alexander, co-chair of the Gwich'in Council International, and Jennifer Spence, who is a Senior Fellow at the Arctic Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2023 marked 75 years of peacekeeping missions in the UN. In this time, more than 70 peacekeeping operations have been deployed by the UN. Hundreds and thousands of military personnel, UN police, and other civilians from more than 120 countries have participated in UN peacekeeping operations.So, looking only at the numbers, surely peacekeeping operations must have been a success? Recently, however, several countries have asked the UN to leave, including Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo. So, what is this a symptom of? Where are we, 75 years after the first UN peacekeepers set their foot on foreign ground? Is this still functional? Has it worked so far? And if so, will it continue to do so in the future? What is the future for peacekeeping?In this episode of the NUPI podcast The World Stage, we take a closer look at what UN Peacekeeping mission are and whether they have been successful.In this episode you’ll hear from David Haeri, (Director, Policy, Evaluation and Training Division, UN Peacekeeping) Annika Hilding Norberg (Head of Peace Operations and Peacebuilding, Geneva Centre for Security Policy), Tor Henrik Andersen (Minister Counsellor, Peace and Security, Africa, Norwegian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York) and NUPI Research Professor Cedric de Coning. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode NUPI's Ole Jacob Sending sits down with Professor Dan Nexon of Georgetown University to talk about how international political leadership – or hegemony – is established and undone.  Nexon argues that hegemony is established through the supply of (public) goods – such as security – for other states. This is what the US has been doing for decades, but now China is trying to replace the US, providing alternative goods and also seeking to reduce the value of what the US has to offer.This episode of The World Stage is a part of the Geopolitics Center, led by NUPI. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The World Stage, we meet Dr. Paolo Benanti. Benanti, who is known for coining the term algorethics, is a professor in ethics of technology and a Franciscan monk. He is a member of UN Secretary General's High-level Advisory Board on Artificial Intelligence and also serves as an AI advisor to none other than Pope Francis. Joins us for an insightful conversation between Benanti and Dr. Niels Nagelhus Schia, head of NUPI’s Research Center on New Technology.Why do we need ethics in the development of AI-technology? Is AI a sort of God? And what did the pope feel about the AI generated image of him in a white puffer coat? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The World Stage, join us for an insightful conversation with AI expert Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, recently recognized on The Times list of the world’s 100 most influential people in AI, and Dr. Niels Nagelhus Schia, head of NUPI’s Research Center on New Technology. Chowdhury brings a unique perspective on the intersection of technology and society, advocating for the critical need for global oversight to ensure we shape a responsible AI future. It's not just about the code; it's about the guardians ensuring its ethical and impactful deployment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the The World Stage, NUPI researchers Thor Olav Iversen and Cedric de Coning discuss how to sustain peace amidst the uncertainty and unpredictability of complex crises.Cedric introduced the concept of adaptive peacebuilding in a 2018 article in International Affairs, and he and his co-authors has further developed the concept and tested it in several case studies in a recently published book Adaptive Peacebuilding A New Approach to Sustaining Peace in the 21st Century. Together with Thor Olav, he discuss their findings and reflects on what constitutes the liberal model of peace and why it has come under heavy criticism, the local nature of peace processes, the agency of the people affected by conflict and how peacebuilding efforts need to continuously adapt to the complex and dynamic realities on the ground. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the BRICS a geopolitical competitor to the West? In this episode of the NUPI podcast The World Stage, Thor Olav Iversen (NUPI), Cedric de Coning (NUPI) and Benedicte Bull (UiO) reflect on the driver and consequences of the expansion of the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to also include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentine and the UAE. What is the core project of the BRICS? Does this extremely diverse group of countries really have anything in common? Are we seeing a global resurgence of the Cold War non-alignment movement? These questions and more are discussed by the researchers who together cover a vast geopolitical space and some of the most pertinent questions of our time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How should we regulate AI? How will AI impact the power balance between the US and China? And how does Microsoft navigate this complex landscape? In this episode, Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, shares his unique insights on these questions and more. He is joined by CEO of NBIM (Norges Bank Investment Management) Nicolay Tangen and NUPI Director Ulf Sverdrup. This episode is released in collaboration with NBIM Podcast 'In Good Company': https://www.nbim.no/no/publikasjoner/podkast-in-good-company/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What issues are likely to be covered in the Agenda for Peace? Why is it important? UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has called for a ‘New Agenda for Peace’ that can help the United Nations and international community address the many complex challenges the world faces today.  In this edition of the World Stage podcast, NUPI’s Cedric de Coning is in conversation with Asif Khan, the Director of the Policy and Mediation Division of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs of the United Nations.The ‘old’ Agenda for Peace refers to a policy document that was first released by UN Secretary-General Boutrous Boutrous Ghali in 1992. It was a landmark policy document that framed the UN’s peace and security’s theory of change around preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.This podcast considers the main issues that the New Agenda for Peace needs is likely to address, including new issues like the climate-peace nexus, and the risks and opportunities that new technologies like Artificial Intelligence may pose for international peace and security. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Visiting prisoners, assisting lost travellers and distressed expats. Consular work is often considered the ugly duckling of the foreign services, far away from the negotiating tables and corridors of power. Still, the duties of the consuls also include dramatic crises evacuations, such as the recent dramatic extractions of diplomats and foreign nationals from Sudan. Ian Kemish has a rich career in the the Australian Foreign Service, including as head of the consular service. His experiences from the diplomatic frontline have resulted in the book ‘The Consul’. In this episode of The World Stage, Ian Kemish and NUPI’s Halvard Leira unpack the many-faceted and increasingly important role of consular work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UN peace operations are overwhelmingly deployed within societies fractured by civil war. To understand why the UN has encountered difficulties, operational and political, in these settings, one must understand the political economy of civil war.These informal networks of power and their consequences for efforts to end wars and build lasting peace, are examined this episode of The World Stage.Professors Mats Berdal (King’s College London), Jana Krause (University of Oslo), and Cedric de Coning (NUPI) discuss how the power structures and conflict dynamics generated by these political economies interact with the UN missions themselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What are the reasons behind the limited impact of violent extremism and the Islamic State in the Kurdistan region of Iraq? In this episode of the NUPI podcast The World Stage, Dlawer Ala’Aldeen (Middle East Research Institute), Juline Beaujouan (University of Edinbrugh & Open Think Tank) and Morten Bøås (NUPI) are standing at the top of the citadel of Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq to discuss this topic.This podcast is part of the PREVEX project. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870724. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you find missing persons in the midst of war?Kathryne Bomberger, Director-General of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), explains how her organisation investigate cases, search for, and identify missing persons in wartime Ukraine. The conversation is hosted by NUPI researcher Tora Berge Naterstad and produced as part of the RUSSNETT project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Climate security was one of Norway’s priority areas during its period as an elected member of the UN Security Council (2021–2022). What did Norway achieve? Hans Olav Ibrekk, Norway’s Special Envoy for Climate, Peace and Security, and Florian Krampe, director of the Climate Change and Risk Programme at SIPRI, take stock on Norway’s effort and lessons learned for others that will be working on this agenda in the future. Cedric de Coning, Research Professor at NUPI, is hosting the conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was there ever a deal to be had with Putin before the war? Is Russia mainly motivated by domestic or foreign policy considerations? And is there anything Western leaders can do to win hearts and minds in Russia? In this episode of The World Stage, Kadri Liik, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and Julie Wilhelmsen, research professor at NUPI, discuss Russia-West relations before, in and after the war in Ukraine. The episode was produced as part of the RUSSNETT project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The World stage, Rana Mitter, Professor at the University of Oxford, and Bjørnar Sverdrup-Thygeson, Senior Research Fellow at NUPI, will first give an overview of China’s key domestic issues, before analysing Beijing’s foreign policy goals.Norway has a lot of experience dealing with The Soviet Union, and later, Russia, but China is a very different kind of actor. How should we politically position ourselves with a state that combines authoritarian governance with a historically unique economic success?Rana Mitter has co-written a report on resetting UK-China relations. What are his key points for reconceptualising Norway’s relationship with the authoritarian superpower? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the World Stage podcast, NUPI’s Cedric de Coning is in conversation with Amitav Acharya and Stein Tønnesson on the emergence of non-Western and Global International Relations.The discipline came into being as an academic field during the past half-century when the US and its Western allies were the driving force behind globalization and the establishment of the global governance architecture. As a result, IR scholarship was mostly pre-occupied with international relations from a western perspective, and western – especially American – scholars, universities and research institutes dominated the field. Global IR is a movement to open up the field to non-western or Global IR theorizing and research.Amitav Acharya is a distinguished Professor of international relations at American University in Washington D.C. and one of the leading proponents of a movement in International Relations scholarship to globalize the theory and focus of IR research.Stein Tønnesson is a former Director of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo. His research has focused on the dynamics of peace and conflict in Asia.Cedric de Coning is a Research Professor with NUPI’s Center for United Nations and Global Governance, and the coordinator of the Effectiveness of Peace Operations Network (EPON). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has set a process in motion to re-think the UN’s role in peace and security in the current global context. A team in the UN Secretariat is currently drafting a policy think piece called the New Agenda for Peace, which will be one of several thematic areas that will be considered at the 2024 Summit of the Future.The ‘old’ Agenda for Peace was a major policy document that was produced under UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1992. It framed the way the UN understood and approached preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding for the following two decades.The New Agenda for Peace is perhaps less ambitious, but the process provides us with an opportunity to reflect on how the UN’s concepts and capabilities need to be adapted to remain relevant in today’s rapidly changing global landscape.We have invited Ian Martin to help us talk through these questions. Ian has led the UN’s human rights work in Rwanda and the process to organise a popular consultation in Timor-Leste. He was the deputy head of the UN peacekeeping operation in Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Nepal. Following the 2011 international intervention, he was the UN’s Special Representative in Libya.From 2014 to 2015, Ian was a member of the Independent High-Level Panel on United Nations Peace Operations, which is why we are looking in this episode at what the findings of this Panel has to offer for the New Agenda of Peace.In this episode Ian is in conversation with Cedric de Coning, a research professor with NUPI’s Center for United Nations and Global Governance, and the coordinator of the Effectiveness of Peace Operations Network (EPON). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia’s re-invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has had immediate and ongoing effects for Arctic security and cooperative governance at both a regional and international level. The region is impacted by the increased sanctions, the withdrawal of Western companies from Russia, the Western disconnect from energy dependencies, and has also witnessed an increase in hybrid security incidents. In addition, climate change continues at to change the environment at a staggering pace in the north.In a new report from NUPI and the Wilson Center, researchers argue that leaders must continue to address Arctic governance challenges and take concrete steps to mitigate and manage risks, regardless of the cessation of cooperation with Russia and the radical uncertainty shaping the broader political environment.This episode is with Mike Sfraga and Elana Wilson Rowe. The report can be downloaded for free here: http://ow.ly/4s5n50MV2uf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.