What Role for Norwegian Soldiers in Fragile States?

Addressing the gap between experience, policy and research

Please note: This page refers to an event that has already taken place.

Time: Tuesday, 14 January 2020 08:45-16:00
Place: Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, Oslo

What Role for Norwegian Soldiers in Fragile States?
Photo: U.S. Army

This seminar combines experience and academic knowledge in an open and broad discussion about Norway’s policy for military deployments in fragile states. Since 2002 contingents from the Norwegian armed forces have been continuously sent to war zones in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. These engagements have been part of the West’s response to various terror attacks, insurgency and organised crime. Less is known about what the soldiers actually do when they are “over there”, what obstacles they meet and what results they achieve.

The main activity for deployed personnel both from conventional units and special forces is training local security forces. The overall goal is to give these forces the capacity to handle their own security problems. The achievements of Norwegian soldiers have been assessed to be of high quality, but these training programmes are demanding, dangerous and can also have adverse unintended consequences.

PRIO and the Norwegian Military Academy collaborate on a research programme concerning military capacity building. The programme consists of discussions between military personnel and policy makers with extensive experience from organising and implementing assistance, and researchers who have spent years studying assistance programmes in fragile states located in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.

Discussions will then be held on three broad themes concerning military capacity building by Norway and similar states: opportunities and challenges for small states; power relations and cultural differences; and hazards and dilemmas. 


PROGRAMME

08:45-09:00                 Welcome and registration

09:00–10:00                Opening remarks

Henrik Urdal, Director, PRIO

Colonel Sigrid Engebretsen-Skaret, Commander, Norwegian Military Academy                          

LtGen(r) Robert Mood, President, Norwegian Red Cross

Laila Bokhari, Non-resident Fellow Harvard Kennedy School

Øystein H. Rolandsen, PRIO

Kjetil Enstad, Norwegian Military Academy

10:00–10:30                Coffee break

10:30–12:00                Roundtable 1: Opportunities and challenges for small states

Main Speaker:

Mats Berdal, King's College London

Commenters:            

Laila Bokhari, Non-resident Fellow Harvard Kennedy School 

Michael Miklaucic, National Defense University and editor of PRISM

Major Marius Kristiansen, Norwegian Army

Moderator:

Øystein H. Rolandsen, PRIO

Q&A

12:00–12:45                Lunch

12:45–14:05                Roundtable 2: Power relations and cultural differences: The  meeting between providers and recipients

Main Speaker:

Pierre Dehaene, Belgian Special Forces and King's College London

Commenters:

Kjetil Selvik, NUPI and PRIO

Lt. Colonel Steinar Dahl, Operations section, Armed Forces Staff

MajGen(r) Kristin Lund, PRIO Practitioner in Residence

Moderator:

Kjetil Enstad, Norwegian Military Academy

Q&A

14:05–14:25                Coffee break

14:25–15:45                Roundtable 3: Hazards and dilemmas 

Main Speaker:

Colonel Brage Larssen, Armed Forces' Special Command

Commenters:

Nina Wilen, PRIO Global Fellow & Egmont Institute

LtGen(r) Robert Mood, President, Norwegian Red Cross

Malin Stensønes, Author

Moderator:                 

Kristian Berg Harpviken, PRIO

Q&A

15:45-16:00                 Closing remarks

MajGen Henning Frantzen, Norwegian Defence University College

16:00                           Seminar ends


Location: Litteraturhuset, Wergelandsveien 29, 0167 Oslo, Norway

Date and time: 14 January 2020, from 08:45 to 16:00

To register for this event, please click on the registration tab above.

This event is jointly organised by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and the Norwegian Military Academy.