Search

This book explores how gender equality, a central part of the Nordic imaginary, is used in the political communication of Nordic states. The analyses presented move beyond conventional images and discourses of Nordic gender- and women-friendliness by critically investigating how and to what extent gender equality serves nation-branding in the Nordic region. Nation-branding is an unescapable part of globalisation, which is a market-oriented process dominated by the West and predicated on the creation of winners and losers. Hence, efforts to strengthen the national brand or reputation of specific Nordic countries with the aid of gender equality as a political and symbolic value inevitably help to reinforce already established global hierarchies where the Nordics play the role of moral superpower. This book comprises scholars from various fields of specialisation, and provides evidence and understanding for the growing interaction between gender-equality policies and nation-branding in all five Nordic countries. It does so by exploring a variety of policy fields and issues including women’s rights, foreign policy, rape and legislation, female quotas and business policies, in addition to the index industry. The rise of the global indexes has reproduced forceful images of the Nordic countries as frontrunners of gender equality, which indeed help the Nordic countries to further position themselves as ‘best at being good’. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Nordic gender equality in political science, sociology, law, criminology, political psychology and history, as well as those interested in nation branding, Nordic studies and exceptionalism.

This report seeks to contribute to a growing research agenda on internal United Nations Security Council (UNSC) dynamics and the role of elected states (E10s). To study the role of elected states is important as research indicates that there has been increased interest among states to hold one of the elected Council seats, yet our understanding of E10 strategies and effects remains more limited. ​Research also indicates that the possibilities for elected states to have an impact on UNSC outcomes can differ between policy areas. For its 2017–18 Council term, Sweden decided that it should promote the integration of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) into the mainstream of the UNSC’s processes and decisions, to contribute to making WPS "core Council business”. In fact, even though WPS is a policy area of growing importance for several elected states, there exists limited knowledge on the role of E10s in driving progress in the Council. Addressing gaps in our understanding of E10 roles, strategies, and effects, this report makes two contributions: First, we provide insights into preparations for, and the situation in, the UNSC for elected members. We begin by discussing the assessments and decisions involved in forming the elected state’s aims and strategy, and then outline four clusters of conditions that an elected state has to tactically maneuver during its term. Second, we structure and advance our knowledge of the potential effects a state can seek to achieve to better understand and study such efforts. We then go more in-depth into one of the effects that Sweden sought to achieve: that is, the improved integration of WPS language in UNSC resolutions, in particular peace operation and political mission mandates, to positively affect the lives of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict areas. We here outline a method for assessing progress on the integration of implementable language. To fulfill this objective, the report builds on a focused analysis of the experiences of Sweden and data on language developments in UNSC resolutions in the 2016–19 period. Importantly, this report does not constitute an authorized or official account of Sweden’s term and is not intended to be a comprehensive assessment of all of Sweden’s work during its two years on the UNSC. Rather, the interviews, written material, and data collection have been used to explore and expand our understanding of elected members and internal UNSC dynamics and to contribute to a growing research agenda on the role of states for WPS progress and setbacks. The report is the first publication in cooperation between the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Uppsala University, and the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) on the role of elected members in the Security Council and is a product of projects funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Folke Bernadotte Academy, and the Shattering Glass project funded by the Swedish Research Council (ID: 2020-05104_3) Shattering glass: How elected members of the UN Security Council fight for women, peace and security

As late as in the mid-1990s it was unthinkable for the UN Security Council to address issues of women’s rights and gender equality in relation to matters of international peace and security. Today the normative framework of ‘Women, Peace and Security’ (WPS) has emerged as a legitimate international security concern, and has become an integral part of the discourse on international peace and security. WPS was first formally coined as a concept when the 15 members of the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (UNSCR 1325) in October 2000. Through the adoption of UNSCR 1325, the Security Council acknowledged the multiple roles women play in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, as well as in peacebuilding efforts. The resolution contains 18 provisions, which can roughly be separated into three main categories: 1. Representation/participation: The resolution urges member states to increase the representation and active participation of women at all decisionmaking levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for conflict prevention, conflict management, conflict resolution and peacebuilding (including the appointment of more women as special envoys, Special Representatives of the UN Secretary-General, etc.). 2. Gender Perspective: A gender perspective should be adopted in the planning and implementation of peace operations and in peace negotiations, which should include gender-sensitive training of personnel, an expanded role for women as peacekeepers, and increased attention to local women’s peace initiatives, needs and interests in mission areas. 3. Protection: The resolution emphasizes the need for increased attention to the protection and respect of women’s human rights, including protection against gender-based violence in situations of armed conflict and initiatives to bring an end to impunity for such crimes. UNSCR 1325, and its six subsequent resolutions, now make up what the UN refers to as the normative framework of ‘Women, Peace and Security’. The emergence of the normative framework of WPS within the realms of UN peace and security politics has happened without being fully acknowledged in mainstream international relations (IR) literature. This dissertation addresses how this notable normative turn has come about. How was WPS set on the agenda of the UN? Who are the actors involved in this process and what does the interrelationship between them look like? And to what extent has the normative framework of WPS become an institutionalized norm with influence on UN peace and security policies? The thesis argues that the emergence and influence of the normative framework of WPS is an outcome of a successful collaboration between three groups of actors: a group of dedicated member states; individuals/entities within the UN system; and last but not least a transnational advocacy network of women’s organisations. The thesis also addresses the key role small states like Norway have played in advancing the WPS agenda. After years in a process of slow emergence, the thesis shows how the WPS norm reached a tipping point around the 10th anniversary of UNSCR 1325 in 2010. The thesis concludes that the WPS norm currently is in a process of rapid diffusion, influencing policies both within the UN, in regional organizations and at the national level in UN member states.

«FN SIN HUMANITÆRE INTERVENSJON I SOMALIA: FRÅ «TEST CASE» TIL «WORST CASE» - SCENARIO» Føremålet med denne oppgava er å sjå nærare på fenomenet humanitær-intervensjon og bruken av denne typen intra-statleg inngripen som tryggingspolitisk verkemiddel i multilateral regi. På byrjinga av 90-talet fekk vi ei rekkje intra-statlege FN-operasjonar med eit humanitært tilsnitt, som av mange blei tolka som eksempel på at ein ny humanitær intervensjonspraksis var under etablering. Desse operasjonane var eit resultat av både store og akutte humanitære behov, og eit ønskje om å revitalisere FN si tryggingspolitiske rolle til også å skulle omfatte intra-statleg konflikthandtering. Det stod nemleg klart for dei aller fleste at intra-statlege konflikter ville utgjere det største trugsmålet mot internasjonal fred og tryggleik i tida fremover. Då FN i desember 1992 iverksette den humanitære intervensjonen i Somalia, braut såleis organisasjonen ikkje berre med tradisjonell intervensjonspraksis. Ein ville også teste ut og styrke organisasjonen sin operasjonelle kapasitet for handtering av denne typen konfliktsituasjonar. Med utgangspunkt i den optimisme som rådde tidleg på 90-talet, omkring moglegheitene for etablering av ein ny intervensjonspraksis, stiller eg derfor i denne oppgava to spørsmål. Desse sentrerar rundt formelle og reelle føresetnader for å kunne snakke om at ein ny praksis er etablert I Del II spør eg; I kva grad har humanitære intervensjonar blitt akseptert som legitimt tryggingspolitisk virkemiddel? Ved å sjå fenomenet i samanheng med andre folkerettsleg relevante prinsipp, og generelle utviklingstendensar i internasjonal politikk, påpeikar eg at utviklinga har gått i retning av ei relativisering av dei nærast absolutte prinsippa om statssuverenitet og ikkje- intervensjon. Det har såleis oppstått ein pragmatisk aksept for at humanitære intervensjonar kan iverksetjast, men under føresetnad av at dei er i multilateral regi. Pragmatikken ligg i det faktum at aksepten ikkje har gitt seg utslag i nye normer og prinsipp, men blir definert inn under dei allereie etablerte. Gitt kvalifikasjonen nemnd ovanfor, ser det såleis ikkje ut til å ligge særskilde formelle hindringar i vegen for det å kunne nytte humanitær intervensjon som eit tryggingspolitisk verkemiddel. Inneber dette i så tilfelle at denne typen operasjonar blir iverksatt? Til det må det nødvendigvis foreligge ei overtyding om at humanitære intervensjonar kan fungere effektivt når dei fyrst blir initiert. Gjennom eit case studie av FN sin humanitære intervensjon i Somalia, forsøkjer eg å gje eit svar på om slike overtydingar er til stades idag. Operasjonen i Somalia, som var meint å skulle vere sjølve test caset for FN si revitaliserte tryggingspolitiske rolle i den nye verdsordenen, har i stor grad mislukkast. I Del IV stiller eg derfor spørsmålet; Kvifor fungerte ikkje den humanitære intervensjonen i Somalia effektivt som tryggingspolitisk virkemiddel? I analysen trekkjer eg fram ei rekkje forklaringsfaktorar, men hevdar likevel at det mest grunnleggande problemet har vore ei mangelfull definering av kva type operasjon ein her eigentleg hadde med å gjere. Dreia det seg om fredsbevaring eller fredsoppretting? Eller var det kanskje noko midt imellom? Den mest alvorlege følgjen av den feilslåtte operasjonen i Somalia, er at det internasjonale samfunnet idag reagerar med mykje større grad av forsiktigheit i samband med Somalialiknande situasjonar. Om dei formelle hindringane for iverksetjing av humanitære intervensjonar er fjerna, ligg der såleis ingen automatikk i at dei blir iverksette i praksis. Den idealistiske optimismen frå det tidlege 90-talet har på få år blitt snudd til nøktern realisme. Humanitære intervensjonar vil nok framleis vere eit tryggingspolitisk verkemiddel å rekne med men ikkje for ein kvar pris.