The World Stage

Join us for a conversation on European security in a time marked by war, nuclear threats, and growing strategic uncertainty.Against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising doubts about US security guarantees, Research Fellow Gine Lund Bolling (NUPI) examines Emmanuel Macron’s recent address on French nuclear policy. The French president’s remarks signal the most significant shift in the country’s nuclear posture in decades.In this episode of The World Stage, we explore what these changes to France’s nuclear strategy entail, and what implications they may have for European security. A central question is what it actually means for France to “build up” its nuclear arsenal: is it about numbers, capabilities, doctrine – or a combination of all three? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can we best prevent and manage climate-related insecurity in one of the world's most vulnerable regions? In this episode of the NUPI podcast The World Stage, Research Professor Cedric de Coning (NUPI) takes us into the heart of the Lake Chad region, and into a two-year research project examining how regional strategies are shaping peace and security.The guests in this podcast episode are Professor Freedom Onuoha (University of Nigeria, Nsukka), and Senior Research Fellow Thor Olav Iversen and Senior Research Fellow Andrew E. Yaw Tchie (both NUPI).The episode draws on findings from the project 'Managing Climate, Peace and Security Risks from the Borderlands of the Lake Chad (CPS-Lake Chad)', which investigates the role of the Regional Strategy for Stabilization, Resilience and Recovery (RS-SRR) in addressing climate-related conflict risks. The project is funded by the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) through the Cross-Border Conflict Evidence Policy and Trends research fund (XCEPT). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the World Stage podcast, host Ole Jacob Sending (The Norwegian Centre for Geopolitics, NUPI) sits down with Alex Cooley (Columbia University) and Taylor St. John (NUPI) to discuss the shift toward transnational kleptocracy in US foreign policy. Drawing on a recent Foreign Affairs article, the guests explore how the second Trump administration is dismantling long-standing anti-corruption frameworks, such as restricting the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), to facilitate a system where public power is leveraged for private gain.In the podcast, the three participants discuss several examples of transnational kleptocracy. One specific example recently reported in the Wall Street Journal involves US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the President's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who have been in active talks with Kirill Dmitriev head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund. The discussions center on using a portion of frozen Russian assets—which were widely expected to be designated for Ukraine's reconstruction—to instead create what Cooley terms "slush funds" for joint American-Russian investment projects.From the role of unofficial, "nebulous" advisors to the potential pressure on allies like Norway to politicize their sovereign wealth funds, this episode provides a deep dive into how international power is being exercised, bought, and shielded in an era of "kleptocratic populism". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the EU’s enlargement debate, attention usually centres on Brussels—legal benchmarks, progress reports and diplomatic bargaining. But in countries hoping to join the bloc, politics is often decided via informal power networks, fragile institutions and the everyday effort of navigating uncertainty. In this episode we shift from the top-down to the ground level as Jessica Hendrick speaks with Morten Bøås, research professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), who is leading RE-ENGAGE’s comparative fieldwork across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine. Together, they take listeners behind the scenes of how the project gathers original data in places shaped by war, protest and political pressure. Methods range from training local university students to conduct trust surveys to vignette experiments that test how citizens respond to crises and competing external “relief packages” from China, the EU, Russia and Turkey. What do early findings reveal? What does “trust” really look like in a hybrid regime? How can the EU design programmes that people actually feel, rather than reforms they never see? And what should Brussels learn about democracy promotion to avoid repeating past mistakes? This is the third episode from the RE-ENGAGE podcast series The Neighbourhood, which unpacks how countries hoping to join the EU navigate political change and outside pressure, and what that means for Europe’s democracy and security. The podcast series is produced by ECFR, and co-published by ECFR and NUPI. The RE-ENGAGE project is led by NUPI, and is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101132314. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How are enlargement reforms unfolding on the ground and what drives progress or stagnation? The 2025 Enlargement Package presents a mixed picture: Ukraine and Moldova are racing ahead, while Serbia and Georgia are lagging. The EU itself is struggling with internal divisions and reform fatigue.This episode of The World Stage is part of The Neighbourhood series from the NUPI-led project Re-engage, produced by ECFR and co-published by ECFR and NUPI. In this episode, ECFR's Jessica Hendrick is joined by Tiago Antunes, senior policy fellow with ECFR’s European Power programme, Leo Litra, visiting fellow at ECFR and senior fellow at Kyiv’s New Europe Center and Engjellushe Morina, senior policy fellow with ECFR’s European Security programme. Together, they discuss what this year’s enlargement report says about political will, institutional resilience and the everyday impact of enlargement.How can the EU make conditionality more credible? Are EU reforms changing behaviour in governments, institutions and people’s lives? And how can Brussels keep the reform energy alive?This episode was recorded on November 12th 2025. iIt's the second episode from the RE-ENGAGE podcast series The Neighbourhood, which unpacks how countries hoping to join the EU navigate political change and outside pressure, and what that means for Europe’s democracy and security. The podcast series is produced by ECFR, and co-published by ECFR and NUPI. The RE-ENGAGE project is led by NUPI, and is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101132314. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The international system faces its gravest crisis in decades. As global democracy retreats, authoritarian regimes actively challenge established international rules and norms.This episode asks: Which institutions are worth saving in this "burning house" of cooperation? We analyse the paralysis of the UN Security Council and NATO's struggle against illiberal pressures as the world order begins to fragment. You will hear from Roland Paris, Alexandra Gheciu (both University of Ottawa) and NUPI's Ole Jacob Sending. The host for this episode is Marie Furhovden (NUPI).This episode is part of the NUPI led project NAVIGATOR that is investigating how the EU should navigate multilateral cooperation. The project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Grant agreement ID: 101094394. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lykke Friis, co-chair of ECFR’s council and former Danish minister, discusses Denmark's push for EU enlargement during turbulent times. She explores how Russia's actions have shifted the enlargement conversation from bureaucracy to security. Lykke emphasizes the necessity of integrating Ukraine and Moldova while managing mixed support from other EU states. She advocates for gradual integration and front-loading benefits, and reflects on the changing public opinion in Denmark towards a stronger European Union.

With the growing sense of perpetual and compounding global crises and war, it is not only policy makers that are scrambling to respond. The discipline of International Relations has also been thrown into upheaval and reconsidering and revising its theoretical apparatus. This episode of the World Stage takes a step back and discusses the role of constructivism for Illuminating the current moment with two of its leading theoreticians: Stefano Guzzini and Nicholas Onuf. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does the new Norwegian High North strategy situate Norway and its northernmost countries in Arctic and global politics? What are the new priorities and signals in the strategy? And how will they be realized in practice in Norwegian foreign policy?In this episode of the NUPI podcast The World Stage, NUPI researcher Elana Wilson Rowe sits down with State Secretary (MFA) Maria Varteressian, and NUPI colleague Karsten Friis to discuss the new High North strategy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

International cooperation and the rules-based order as we know it is now at stake. The inauguration of Donald Trump in his second presidential term, Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine, and great power rivalry are just some of the factors that have had an influence on how countries can work together. In addition, several multilateral organisations are being criticised for a lack of efficiency in solving issues.In the midst of this, the EU and other institutions are working to maintain international cooperation on one hand and adjusting to the new reality on the other. In a time where uncertainty reigns, we must ask ourselves: Is the era of cooperation coming to an end?In this episode we look at the state of international cooperation both between countries and in different institutions and organisations. We also visit Johannesburg to investigate what international cooperation looks like from a South African point of view.Contributors to this episode are Amina Dossa and Buhle Kokela (students at WITS University), Sithembile Mbete (Executive Director, PARI), Malte Brosig (Professor, WITS University) and John Karlsrud (Research Professor, NUPI). Host for this episode is Marie Furhovden (NUPI). The podcast episode is part of the NAVIGATOR project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Call HORIZON-CL2-2021-DEMOCRACY-01 – Grant agreement n°101061621. Visit the project webpage to learn more at www.eunav.eu Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.