Nordquist key note speaker in conference on conflict prevention held in Alexandria
On 2-4 April Professor Kjell-Åke Nordquist was one of the key note sepakers at a seminar with the title ”Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention”. The seminar was organised in Alexandria, Egypt, by the Swedish Institute Alexandria (SwedAlex) together with the Institute for Islamic Strategic Affairs (IISA). Amongst others, the conference noted that new mechanisms are needed to meet conflicts in the Middle East, and that those must be based on respect for international law.
Article on the demilitarisation and neutralisation of Svalbard
“Demilitarisation and neutralisation of Svalbard: how has the Svalbard regime been able to meet the changing security realities during almost 100 years of existence?”. This is the title of a recent article by researchers Timo Koivurova and Filip Holiencin. The article assesses the experiences of the nearly one hundred years since the adoption of the Svalbard Treaty. In Article 9 of the Svalbard Treaty it is briefly provided that: Subject to the rights and duties resulting from the admission of Norway to the League of Nations, Norway undertakes not to create nor to allow the establishment of any naval base in the territories specified in Article 1 and not to construct any fortification in the said territories, which may never be used for warlike purposes. Koivurova and Holiencin examine the double ambition of a peaceful utilization of the islands while permitting industrial activities by many different states parties. The Svalbard Treaty granted sovereignty over the archipelago to a relatively small state such as Norway, trying thus to keep the islands out of the grip of great powers. The researchers discuss the absence of a dispute solving mechanism in the treaty as well as the increasing commercial as well as geopolitical […]