Leif Christian Jensen

Approaching the North: Norwegian and Russian foreign policy discourses on the European Arctic

The aim of this article is to identify Norwegian and Russian official foreign policy discourses on the European Arctic, and how perceived challenges are understood, framed and presented by the governments in their respective countries. The article makes use of discourse analysis to grasp how the Norwegian “High North” strategy is framed by the Norwegian government and, likewise, how the Russian approach to the European Arctic is framed by the Russian government. The empirical foundation is a study of primary texts such as white papers, official reports, speeches and strategies. We find that the Norwegian approach to the High North features in a powerful official discourse resulting from a robust and broad domestic discursive mobilization. The Russian approach is that of an increasingly assertive nation for which the zero-sum game and relative gains seem to be the main rationale, judging by the official discourse. The Russian approach is not as coherent or based on a broad discursive mobilization as in Norway’s case.We identify energy, security, the economy and the environment as key discursive nodal points that the foreign policy discourses of the two countries evolve around: we find that both countries regard the European Arctic’s potential as a future energy province to be the region’s most prominent aspect. The discourses show that energy is regarded to be of vital national interest, but the countries have differing perceptions on international cooperation. However, as the countries have some important common frames of references, a favourable climate for extended future cooperation could be further developed.

Framing the High North: Public Discourses in Norway after 2000

Abstract The article presents an overview of the main public debates in Norway that can be said to have framed and defined the High North since the turn of the Millennium. It is based on a qualitative study of over 3000 articles published in four Norwegian newspapers issued between 2000 and 2006. Our discussion is structured around three overarching, interconnected narratives that we think capture the essence of the Norwegian public discourses on the High North between 2000 and 2006. These are “Fragments from the 1990s”; “The great narrative of the High North”; and “Mixing cold water with hot blood”. The first half of the 2000s is characterised by an almost total absence of the High North as a discursive and politically coherent concept. From 2004, however, usage grew fivefold, alongside an extensive, dynamic discursive mobilisation. When the Russians decided in 2006 to shelve the Shtokman project and critical voices were heard condemning Norways environmental performance in northwest Russia, public opinion swung back again. A feeling of cold reality replaced the sense of optimism towards the energy potential of the north, and an exercise in collective soul-searching commenced – similar to that of the early years of the decade. We believe the type of discursive change we document in this article constitutes policy trends in connection both with the High North and with other sectors where policy is subject to intense public debate and appraisal. We hope that discourse analysis has enabled us to investigate and share how Norwegian public discourses on the High North are socially produced, framed and maintained but at the same time are always in flux and open to “new” directions which should be possible – at least in theory – to trace by going back in time.

Seduced and surrounded by security: A post-structuralist take on Norwegian High North securitizing discourses

Combining elements of the Copenhagen school’s securitization theory with a Foucauldian discourse analysis, this article examines certain discursive processes that emerged in the wake of Norway’s 2005 High North Initiative. The Norwegian government’s explicit politicization of energy issues appears to have acted as door opener, letting ‘security’ in to colonize the High North discourses once more. Russia is again firmly positioned as the ‘radical other’, leaving the discursive field open to various forms of securitizing discourses. The post-2005 discursive field of the Northern areas is, in many ways, more open-ended, complex and confusing than ever. The opening up and expansion of the concept of High North security means that ‘everything’ is seen as having a security potential. What does seem clear is the increasing presence of security in primary texts and the media debate: entry to and credibility in the discourse depends on ‘security speak’ across an ever-widening array of thematic contexts. The article also argues that a combination of securitization theory and discourse analysis seems a fruitful way forward in shifting more focus towards the active and important role of the audience in securitizing processes.

Norwegian petroleum extraction in Arctic waters to save the environment: introducing ‘discourse co-optation’ as a new analytical term

In this article, the term discourse co-optation is introduced based on a socially oriented discourse analysis of the Norwegian petroleum debate concerning petroleum extraction in the Barents Sea. The introduction of the term is based on empirical findings from two different studies of public discourse through four Norwegian newspapers published between 2000 and 2006. Discourse co-optation describes how one discourse ‘burrows into the heart’ of a counter-discourse, turns its logic upside down and it is put to work to re-establish hegemony and re-gain political support. One discourse is strengthened by the addition of a new, powerful argument; the other is weakened almost to the same degree.

Handbook of the politics of the arctic

The Arctic has again become one of the leading issues on the international foreign policy agenda, in a manner unseen since the Cold War. Drawing on the perspectives of geopolitics and international law, this Handbook offers fresh insights and perspectives on the most pressing issues, grouped under the headings of political ascendancy, climate and environmental issues, resources and energy, and the response and policies of affected countries.

An Arctic ‘marriage of inconvenience’: Norway and the othering of Russia

ABSTRACT This article discusses how Norwegian foreign policy toward the Arctic is closely linked to the often vague but central concept of national identity, and the crucial role Russia plays as a ‘significant other’ to Norway in the North. The author draws on an extensive empirical analysis of Norwegian foreign policy in the Arctic since 2005, and combines this with a discussion of discourse and national identity in light of elements from post-structuralist International Relations (IR) theory. The article contributes to a better understanding of how post-structuralist IR theory and the concept of national identity can be understood and operationalized when analyzing Arctic foreign policy, in particular, and International Relations generally.

From the High North to the Low South: bipolar Norway’s Antarctic strategy

Abstract Based on a close analysis of the Norwegian Antarctic strategy from 2015, this article seeks to introduce Norway’s main interests and political priorities concerning the Antarctic to an international audience. It should also function as an important contribution to the international relations literature on the region. This article fills out and enriches recent analyses and presentations of old and emerging positions on the Antarctic. Norway is the only truly bipolar state, the only one with territorial claims to areas in both the Arctic and the Antarctic. The first Norwegian Antarctic strategy in nearly 80 years must be read as a clear signal of intent from the Norwegian Government. It is uncommonly comprehensive and detailed, and covers most if not all of Norway’s key foreign policy interests. The similarity to the Norwegian Arctic approach is rather striking. The take-home message is really that one can get a very good idea of how Norwegian foreign policy towards the Antarctic will be like by looking at Norway’s previous policies and actions in the Arctic. There is a clear signal from the government that Norway’s Antarctic competence and experience shall create synergies in the pursuit of national interests in the Antarctic. Norway needs a stage for its foreign policy, and new territories to promote national interests and support the national economy now that the fossil-driven Norwegian fairy tale is approaching its last chapters.