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A national interest, as an expression, fits poorly in the Norwegian language and the country's political culture. Norwegian politicians rarely mention it and internationally the country is isolationist due to its small size, distant location and historical circumstances. However, in the northern European context, Norway has strong resource and environmental political interests, as well as keeping a stable and peaceful relationship with its neighbor Russia. L. Pitkaniemi

Discusses what constitutes a norm in international relations, how norms are established, and causal influences on foreign policy; based on empirical research from Angolan war in 1975 and the Kenyan-Ugandan war of 1979.

The article distinguishes between deductive rationality models which explain the behaviour of large numbers of people placed in similar external circumstances, and explanations of a single action by one individual, individual rationality. The traditional justification for rationality models is that they offer good predictions. The main argument in this article is that individual rationality is testable and can serve to assess the empirical accuracy of the assumption of rationality in models. Three strategies to judge whether an individual action is rational — situational logic, motivational analysis and process-tracing — are used to analyse Henry Kissinger's decision in July 1975 to provide arms to Angola, an act which was intended to increase the value of the American reputation for toughness. The discussion is informed by Barry Nalebuff's game-theoretic analysis of rational beliefs concerning the value of reputation in deterrence. Finally, the article draws the implications of the empirical analysis of Kissinger's decision for the model of rational beliefs, concluding that such models can and should be evaluated on their assumptions rather than their predictions.

This article discusses the preconditions for settling ethnic conflict through a constitutional compromise: democracy. The focus is on the conditions for transition to democracy amidst intense ethnic strife. What factors facilitate transition to democracy and what factors are obstacles? It is assumed that the attitude of social groups to democracy is determined by their leaders' rational calculations of the prospects of social, economical and political benefits. In other words, social groups have the capacity to formulate collective interests and act strategically to further them, and their leaders choose the alternative path of action with the highest expected benefits among those available. To extend the argument, I will first draw on some recent analysis in the rational choice literature on institutions. Second, I will analyse two very different contexts in which transitions to democracy were attempted, the events in Angola 1974-75 and in Zimbabwe in 1979-80. Rational choice theorists try to discover the meaning of rationality in different contexts, and the study of strategic choices and interaction of the six political elite groups in Angola and Zimbabwe, each with a core ethnic constituency, makes empirical probing and refining of the propositions of rational choice theory possible.

Trends and scenarios in international military operations / Per M. Norheim-Martinsen -- Five parameters for analysing international military operations / Tore Nyhamar -- Future high intensity conflict: a possible NATO counter-regime operation in Africa / Gen. Sverre Diesen -- Counterinsurgency operations revisited / Robert Egnell and David Ucko -- Military advising and assistance operations / Guro Lien -- Special operations forces - a weapon of choice for future operations? / Iver Johansen -- The future of UN peacekeeping operations / Stian Kjeksrud -- The new urban operations / Per M. Norheim-Martinsen -- Transnational operations / Tore Nyhamar -- Cyber operations / Siw Tynes Johnsen -- Protection of civilians as a new objective in military operations / Alexander William Beadle -- Conclusions: new missions, new tasks / Tore Nyhamar and Per M. Norheim-Martinsen

As national governments struggle to cope with the complex threat of mass-casualty terrorist attacks, there is an ongoing debate about the best approaches to counterterrorism policy. The authors of How States Fight Terrorism explore the dynamics of counterterrorism policy development in Europe and North America. A series of case studies examine security concerns, political debates and policy responses, and military countermeasures at both the national and the international level, while the need for integrated approaches is emphasized throughout. Not least, the book provides new insights into the tension between efficiency and legitimacy as one of the core dilemmas in shaping counterterrorism policy