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The report argues that current indicators for SDG 16 do not fully capture the goal's ambition and recommends integrating survey-based perception data alongside administrative data. For target 16.1 (violence), it suggests adding conflict-related deaths and a safety indicator. For 16.3 (justice), it proposes a broader dispute resolution indicator. For 16.7 (inclusion), it recommends measuring perceived inclusivity of decision-making and electoral turnout. For 16.10 (freedoms), it suggests indicators for the freedom to express political opinion and the implementation of access to information guarantees.

The authors argue that Proportional Representation (PR) is often adopted not due to electoral competition, but as a response to systemic threats of revolution. Using Norway's 1919 reform as a case study, they demonstrate that incumbents viewed PR as a de-radicalization tool to strengthen parliamentary legitimacy and isolate revolutionary radicals. Quantitative analysis of roll-call votes shows that MPs facing local industrial conflicts and soldiers' councils were significantly more likely to support PR, regardless of the actual electoral strength of socialist parties in their districts.

The document examines the peace process in Myanmar from the perspectives of the government, the Army, non-state armed groups (NSAGs), and civil society. It identifies the current reform period under President Thein Sein as a critical window of opportunity but warns that the process is fragile due to a lack of trust in the Myanmar Army and the continuation of conflict in northern regions. The author argues for a 'deepening' of the process to include conflict-affected communities and a 'broadening' to address structural political issues rather than just security ceasefires. The paper concludes by proposing a 'framework agreement' to facilitate multilateral discussions on constitutional reform, land rights, and resource management.

The author advocates for treating gun violence as a public health issue rather than a purely legal or security matter, particularly in Africa. The text explains that firearms act as 'violence multipliers' that increase the lethality of both premeditated and impulsive violence. It identifies critical gaps in mortality and possession data across sub-Saharan Africa and outlines how WHO recommendations and international agreements—such as the UN Programme of Action and regional protocols in West, East, and Southern Africa—can be leveraged by public health professionals to secure funding and government cooperation.

The document provides a comprehensive review of modern Just War theory, analyzing the criteria for entering war (jus ad bellum), conducting war (jus in bello), and ending war (jus post bellum). It highlights key tensions, such as the debate over humanitarian intervention, the morality of preventive war, and the 'moral equality of soldiers'—the question of whether combatants fighting an unjust war can still act justly in their conduct.

The research examines Norwegian humanitarian aid in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, specifically in health and education. It finds that while NGOs implement RBA principles at a project level, the approach fails to address root causes because the primary duty-bearer, Israel, is hostile to these goals and the donor state, Norway, prioritizes foreign policy and diplomatic relations over a forceful rights-based agenda. This results in aid that provides temporary relief but may inadvertently facilitate the occupation by relieving Israel of its legal responsibilities.

The research paper examines the failure of the first version of Norway's 'Smittestopp' app, which was launched in April 2020 and cancelled in September 2020. The author argues that the app's failure highlights a tension between 'technological utopianism' and the rule of law, specifically regarding data protection and privacy. The document details how the app was criticized by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (DPA) and the tech community for being 'disproportionately intrusive' and 'experimental'. It further analyzes the government's response to this failure, noting a tendency to blame 'Big Tech' (Google and Apple) and a lack of humility in accepting legal criticisms. The author concludes that the Smittestopp saga demonstrates the rising political importance of GDPR compliance and the critical role of private-sector tech activists in providing democratic oversight when traditional civil society organizations remain silent.

The analysis explores the experiences of 'peripheral' doctoral students in a UK-based professional doctorate programme, focusing on the tensions between their professional expertise and their novice status in academia. It identifies four primary categories of challenges: the struggle for belonging and social isolation, complexities in supervisory relationships, identity and language dissonance, and the psychological impact of 'impostor syndrome'. The authors argue that while distance programmes provide necessary flexibility, they often create a disconnect with the broader university infrastructure. The study highlights the value of the 'cohort model' in building social capital and suggests that institutional support, such as cross-cultural training and flexible enrolment options, is essential for the success of non-traditional students.

The document examines how ethno-national diasporas influence civil wars through financial contributions, military and political involvement, and international advocacy. It analyzes the dual nature of this influence, noting that while diaspora resources can prolong conflict by sustaining armed groups and hardening political stances, they also offer significant potential for peace through post-conflict reconstruction, the provision of skilled personnel for new institutions, and the promotion of human rights discourses.

The authors argue that the EITI lacks a proven Theory of Change, risking obsolescence in some countries. They propose three models—Name-and-Shame, Public Debate, and Technical Reform—and find that while stakeholders prefer the Public Debate model, actual change occurs primarily through Technical Reform. The study emphasizes that ToCs must be dynamic and context-specific to bridge the gap between disclosure and actual accountability.

The author analyzes 'value-talk'—the use of references to 'our values' to formulate 'we', 'us', and 'them'—following terror attacks in France and Norway. By examining national TV news from the first week after the events, the study argues that values are not static traits dividing cultural groups, but are dynamic tools used to mobilize unity (we-hood) and dissociate the national community from terrorists (us-hood). The findings suggest that while both countries used value-talk to foster cohesion, the results differed: Norway experienced a more consensus-oriented, depoliticized narrative, whereas France's efforts were more fragmented and marked by ongoing conflict regarding the loyalty of Muslim populations to the Republic.

The study analyzes publication data from 91 researchers at a Norwegian social science institute between 2010 and 2014 to demonstrate that the 'gender gap' in productivity is highly sensitive to the chosen metric. While men appear significantly more productive when only journal articles are counted, the gap narrows when books and book chapters are included, and it can even reverse when co-authorship is fractionalized for certain ranks. The authors argue that academic writing is a situated social practice, and that standard bibliometric indicators often fail to capture gendered differences in publication patterns, such as women's tendency toward more diverse output and different collaboration networks.

The research examines why some international armaments collaborations succeed while others fail, challenging the 'process' approach of institutional reform. By comparing the failed Viking submarine project (Norway, Denmark, Sweden) and the successful Storm Shadow missile project (UK, France, Italy), the authors argue that formal alliance bonds—specifically NATO membership—provide the necessary incentives for governments to overcome domestic opposition and industrial rivalries. The paper concludes that security ties and high politics outweigh the influence of similar political economies, cultural affinities, or complementary industrial capabilities.

The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund (the Oil Fund) held US$6.15 billion in bonds across 39 oil and gas developers as of June 2024. The report argues that these bonds provide fresh capital for upstream and midstream expansion, contradicting the Fund's ambition to lead in climate risk management. Case studies on TotalEnergies, Enbridge, and ExxonMobil highlight the misalignment between the Fund's financial support and the companies' lack of credible transition plans. The authors recommend a policy to halt new bond purchases from oil and gas developers and a phased divestment from existing holdings.

The report 'Five Years Lost' details 12 major fossil fuel expansion projects globally, estimating they would collectively emit at least 175 gigatons of CO2, consuming up to 75% of the remaining carbon budget for a 66% probability of limiting warming to 1.5°C. It identifies a systemic failure in the finance industry, noting that between January 2016 and August 2020, financial institutions provided $1.6 trillion in loans and underwriting and $1.1 trillion in investments to 133 companies driving these projects. The document highlights the role of public finance, specifically Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) like the World Bank Group, in de-risking these projects. Case studies cover diverse regions including the Permian Basin (USA), Vaca Muerta (Argentina), and the Barents Sea (Norway), emphasizing the associated human rights abuses, environmental degradation, and the 'myth' of natural gas as a bridge fuel.

The policy brief identifies a gap between the climate commitments of institutional investors and their actual impact on corporate behavior, citing limited transparency and high barriers to shareholder action. It proposes four primary reforms to the Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD) II: introducing a mandatory 'Say on Climate' vote every three years, ensuring legal security for submitting environmental resolutions, increasing transparency requirements for asset owners, managers, and proxy advisors, and lowering the shareholding threshold for submitting resolutions to a maximum of 2% (and 0.2% for large companies).

The text proposes 'natural capitalism' as a successor to the current industrial system, which the authors claim liquidates natural capital and treats it as income. It outlines four core strategies—radical resource productivity, biomimicry, a service and flow economy, and investing in natural capital—to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. The document emphasizes that the limiting factor for future prosperity is no longer industrial capacity but the availability of life-supporting ecosystem services.

The text analyzes 'industrial metabolism,' contrasting the circularity of biological systems with the linear, wasteful nature of industrial production. It quantifies the massive scale of material waste in the United States, the social waste of unemployment and incarceration, and the financial waste embedded in the GDP. The author contends that GDP is a flawed metric because it counts environmental and social decay as economic growth, and calls for a new economic model that values natural and human capital to ensure long-term viability.

The document examines Brazil's trade policy from the post-WWII import-substitution era to the mid-2000s. While Brazil achieved significant trade surpluses and productivity gains following liberalization in the 1990s, the author argues that these successes are largely due to global economic conditions rather than current government strategy. The paper highlights the 'Brazil Cost'—a combination of bureaucracy, infrastructure deficits, and high taxes—as a primary barrier to competitiveness. It further critiques the current administration's tendency to prioritize geopolitical goals over commercial interests in trade negotiations and calls for a more strategic, transparent, and institutionally coordinated approach to trade reform.

The document finds that most African countries failed to maximize the opportunity for a green recovery following COVID-19, primarily due to a massive financing gap and a lack of mainstreaming climate action into national economic planning. While South Africa and Nigeria adopted recovery plans with green components, others like Senegal, Uganda, and Benin showed little overlap between their pandemic responses and NDCs. The author argues for reforming global development finance, implementing carbon taxes, and creating green sovereign wealth funds to bridge the gap between climate ambitions and available resources.