Foreign policy and aid

Adopting more sustainable ways of managing the ocean is a global priority: protecting its health will bring benefits to all. Developing countries face specific challenges, as many depend heavily on ocean-based industries and are overly exposed to the consequences of ocean degradation.

For a long time, the Nordic countries have been a region of peace, with the ability to resolve conflicts peacefully among themselves, and a region for peace, actively promoting peace globally. Although efforts to actively brand the Nordic region are ongoing, the Nordic Peace brand is an area with untapped potential. The Nordics have rich traditions for working together on peace and conflict resolution. These joint efforts have grown organically and informally from like-mindedness, letting the common Nordic culture and ways of working foster integration among them where relevant. The people working in the Nordic countries on Nordic cooperation and peace recognize the potential of strengthening the Nordic Peace brand. One area of special potential is increasing focus on the shared Nordic priorities of prevention and the women, peace and security agenda as part of the Nordic Peace brand.

This book studies governance capacity and governance legitimacy for societal security and crisis management. It highlights the importance of building organizational capacity by focusing on the coordination of public resources and underscores the relevance of legitimacy by emphasizing the importance of public perceptions, attitudes, and trust vis-à-vis government arrangements for crisis management. The authors explore several cases and identify relevant dimensions concerning performance, capacity and legitimacy across different countries. It is an ideal volume for audiences interested in public administration, public policy, crisis management and security studies.

The post-Cold War world allows space for less powerful states to develop influential roles in responding to specific international problems. Norway has focused on the persistent issue of violent ethno-political conflict. This book explains why Norway chose its peace policy and demonstrates what is has been able to achieve.

Have we reached an end to the era of peaceful third party intervention in conflict management and resolution? In the 1990s, with the ending of the Cold War, the intervention of third parties as a non-violent means of negotiating settlements of intra-state conflicts gained prominence but the emphasis in the twenty-first century has been increasingly on military responses. Peaceful Intervention in Intra-State Conflicts: Norwegian Involvement in the Sri Lankan Peace Process is an in-depth, impartial discussion on the background, decision making processes and procedures and related actions in the Norwegian facilitated peace process in Sri Lanka that gradually shifted towards a military solution. It provides the reader with evidence based comprehensive analysis on the attempts of peaceful third party intervention in a complex ethno-separatist intra-state conflict.

Scandinavian countries are routinely considered exceptional for their commitment to development cooperation, peace mediation, and humanitarian action. This book highlights how the political culture of Scandinavia is indeed characterized by the idea of doing good on the world stage, but then shows how this 'Scandinavian humanitarian brand' is an asset that policymakers and others can capitalize on to legitimize policy interventions and ideas, or to advance commercial, diplomatic, and security interests. Providing case studies from all Scandinavian countries, this book shows how the brand is made, reinforced, and used in a variety of policy contexts, from foreign aid and humanitarian assistance; to military operations, peace-building, and mediation; to migration policy, global health, and international cooperation. A key objective of the book is to explain why the Scandinavian humanitarian brand retains such apparent resilience in a time when Scandinavia's characteristic approach to world affairs seems challenged from many sides at once. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.