Suchergebnisse

Philosophizes over the concept 'national interest'. 'Nation' is a problematic concept, because it assumes a united people acting together. The 'state' also possesses its conceptual problems, but can be characterized as an ideological object able to act. It is therefore important to realize that the concept 'national interest' is not exactly definable, but is instead dependent upon who, where and how it is used. L. Pitkaniemi

In this personal essay, Egil Fossum describes how his perspectives, along with the perspectives of many others like him, have developed over the course of many years into a situation of hopelessness & despair for the Palestinian people. Fossum begins with the generally positive impression he held of Israel from early childhood & tells how his exposure to various other Middle Eastern perspectives began to shift his attitude to challenge his original assumptions. Though extensive travel throughout the Middle East, Fossum develops a view that re-assesses the impact of Israeli political action on the Palestinian people. Perhaps more importantly, he comes to gain an understanding of how Western media has helped shape a somewhat distorted view of the Palestinian struggle. Fossum explores these issues from the standpoint of his personal experience & poses the question of how a defeated people might ever be able to navigate through the complex political terrain that presently stands before them. C Brunski

A roundtable discussion involving Dag Herbjornsrud, Jan Erik Snoen, and Halvard Leira that addresses general Norwegian media coverage of the USA. A mixed media picture is discussed; on one hand conservative politics are exaggerated and presented in a negative light while the underlying idea of freedom and opportunity is appealing to the media. The duality of media coverage is attributed to strong cultural and military ties with the USA contrasted by strong political differences. It is suggested that the USA is used to compare and contrast to Norwegian society in order to better understand Norwegian issues. The existence of an American attitude of exceptionalism is debated and it is suggested that this is an academic construct rather than popular opinion. It is argued that Norwegians are unable to fully appreciate the level of diversity in the United States and have a tendency to form opinions based on elitist East Coast sources and entertainment sources such as film and television. It is agreed that Norwegians have premeditated opinions about the US that are not based on political science and/or historical research or factual knowledge. E. Sundby

This article presents the opinion that American exceptionalism has returned post 9/11. It is argued that Ronald Reagan's international relations during the cold war displayed the attitude that power is more important than intellectual, factual, historical, ideological, or moral obligations. The uses of power employed by Americans in international conflicts are compared to the uses of power employed by empires of the past. A historical exploration is included of the development of exceptionalist attitudes from the founding of the US in the 1700's, throughout the continual expansions of the 1800's and into the industrial and military power of the 1900's. It is further argued that American traditions during the early 1900's border on messianism, where the American people are the chosen people, and that Reaganism was a natural extension of these traditions, whereas post Reagan there was no need for American messianism or exceptionalism, and thus American Presidents sought a new world order where the US would participate in integrated global economics and politics in cooperation with other nations. George W. Bush's politics post 9/11 with its war on terror marked the return of American exceptionalism. E. Sundby

This article considers the rising importance regional power development in a world where the stability of political alliances is increasingly brought into question. Most world leaders agree that these emerging economies will come to play an ever-more powerful role in the shaping of tomorrow's global policies, even if they do not themselves occupy the leading socio-political slots. Several possible policy configurations for China, India, Brazil, & South Africa are considered here, focusing on the degree to which these countries will both collectively & independently choose to balance their engagement between their local sphere of influence & their strategic global allies, namely the US & EU. It is suggested that the direction China elects to take in its policy over the coming years will have a decisive role for the other developing regions as a whole, because its economic power will largely temper the attitudes of the dominant world powers towards these regional powers. Tables, References. C. Brunski

Norway's security & defence policy was justified with reference to Cold War arguments well into the 1990s. The Norwegian NATO discourse, which is the topic of the article, is still focused on territorial defence, with allied support in an emergency situation, interoperability & alliance loyalty at its core. NATO increasingly is considered as a political instrument in which Norwegian force contributions to international operations are converted into political influence vis-a-vis Norway's allies. Some fear, however, that international engagement will reduce the national defence capacity, leaving Norway in a vulnerable situation with Russia in the northern areas. This view also reflects the opposition against defence reform, where NATO has been a central external driving force. NATO is still seen as the main arena for transatlantic relations in the Norwegian debate, whereas little attention is being paid to the ever more ambitious & capable EU. More striking, maybe, is that the attitude towards Norway's close relationship with the US, even after its unilateral turn since nine-eleven, does not seem to have changed. 64 References. Adapted from the source document.

"This anthology examines and elucidates how variation in ability (physical and cognitive) as a human condition impacts participation in religious communities and theology and diakonia as professional disciplines. Functional impairment and disability are meaningful human experiences that are important to explore critically and constructively, in a Norwegian context as well.

Fellowship – that everyone is entitled to equal conditions and opportunities for participation in a society – is also relevant in the context of religion, theology and diakonia. Religious fellowship comprises among other things the possibility of being able to choose religious participation and to be religiously active, for example through degrees of association and social participation, employment and volunteer work. Many people have experienced exclusion from participation in religious practices and communities due to specific attitudes or physical barriers. This anthology presents new research on a variety of topics relating to religious fellowship with a focus on equality, human rights and views of humanity. The contributors are from varying fields, including social welfare, public health, social science, literary studies, diakonia, theology and religious studies." - "Denne antologien belyser og drøfter hva variasjoner i funksjonsevne som menneskelig vilkår betyr for deltakelse i religiøse fellesskap og for teologi og diakoni som fagområder. Funksjonsnedsettelse og funksjonshemning er meningsfulle menneskelige erfaringer som det er viktig å tenke kritisk og konstruktivt gjennom, også i en norsk kontekst.

Medborgerskap – det at alle borgere skal ha like vilkår og muligheter for deltakelse i et samfunn – er også relevant for religion, teologi og diakoni. Religiøst medborgerskap innbefatter blant annet muligheten til å kunne velge religiøs deltakelse og til å være religiøst aktiv, for eksempel gjennom grader av tilknytning og sosial deltakelse, yrkesutøvelse og frivillig arbeid. Mange mennesker har opplevd å bli ekskludert fra å kunne delta i religiøse praksiser og fellesskap nettopp på grunn av holdninger eller fysiske barrierer. I antologien presenteres ny forskning på ulike temaer knyttet til religiøst medborgerskap, der likestilling, menneskerettigheter og menneskesyn er i fokus. Bidragsyterne kommer fra ulike fagfelt – blant annet vernepleie, folkehelse, medborgerskapsstudier, litteraturvitenskap, diakoni, teologi og religionsvitenskap."

Why do we focus on the internal arrangements of the contractual process from a leadership perspective? Through empirical research where we have asked questions about the internal organizational arrangements, what kind of knowledge the organization need, and how institutional arrangements affect the contract process, we have tried to answer the main research question. We have also carried with us a question of if the organization's attachment to the public or private sector affects the arrangements. I have conducted a comparative case study where data has been generated from two public sector organizations, The National Road Administration, Helsebygg Midt-Norge, one private sector organization, Siemens, and one hybrid organization, NTE. Data was primarily generated from the governance system of the different organizations, and informant interviews. The analysis was carried out by two steps; first an empirical analysis, then a theoretical analysis, based on contractual theory, of the empirical findings. The empirical analysis shows that the organizations share the same thoughts on how to organize the contractual work; the division between the line and the project organization, the distribution of decision-making authority, and the institutionalization of a specific governance system. The organizational processes are formalized, and the governance system gives the clear recommendation on desired actions. The empirical data gives a clear understanding that the contract process is dominated by one profession — the engineers. Regarding the question on knowledge, I found the organizations to be interested foremost on problem solving competencies (engineering competencies). Other competencies, for example economic or legal competencies, where viewed as support competencies. We also found that personal skills in handling the complex and difficult processes and attitude toward ethics seemed to be of importance. On the question on how institutional elements in the organizational environment affected the contract process, we found that the overall interest of the organizations was stability and predictability. We also found that the market mechanisms cause the organizations some worry. In the end, the empirical findings did not give us any strong reasons to differentiate between public sector organizations and private sector organizations in how to deal with contractual work processes. The theoretical analysis has been carried out within classical and relational contract theory. The analysis shows that the empirical findings, to a great extend, can be explained through classical contract theory. It also gives us some ideas on what areas of the theory, especially relational contract theory that should be improved. Regarding the main research question, the conclusions indicate a need to establish a comprehensive approach to the contract process, to ensure a good balance between different partial processes. There also seem to be necessary to work on improvements on contract theory to increase the applicability of the theory, especially the relational contract theory.