MELLAN EU OCH NATO En kvalitativ studie av Norges utrikespolitiska roller under perioden 2020–2025

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the development of Norway’s foreign policy roles during 2020–2025, aperiod marked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent role convergenceof the Nordic countries. Utilizing role theory, the aim is to investigate how the ego dimensionof Norway’s National Role Conception (NRC), is affected as neighbouring countries movetoward a more coordinated and EU-anchored security policy, and whether this results in rolestress. Norway has traditionally assumed the role of a reluctant European by balancing practicalintegration with rejection of formal EU membership. Based on a qualitative content analysis ofofficial speeches from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the study maps how thecountry’s role set has been adapted before and after the 2022 invasion, with a specific focus onthe role of the reluctant European. The results show that Norway’s role set has not beenreplaced but rather reorganized through shifting priorities. In response to role stress, thereluctant European role has been reformulated through deepened EU security cooperation,while NATO remains the primary security pillar. The study contributes theoretically byaccounting for Norway’s response to its neighbours’ role convergence, two strands of researchthat have previously been treated separately.