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

Abstract

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