Lessons from Tanzania’s property tax reform in 2021: Perceptions of fairness and efficiency

This study examines the effectiveness and taxpayer perceptions of Tanzania’s 2021 property tax reform, which introduced the use of electricity tokens for tax payment. The reform aimed to simplify tax collection and improve compliance by linking payments of property tax electricity purchases through the state-owned electricity provider Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO). A survey of 509 property owners in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro reveals high awareness of the reform (81%), but mixed views on its fairness and equity. Many respondents (55%) believe the reform did not achieve equitable distribution of the tax burden. However, the use of electricity tokens was seen as efficient and cost-effective by 57% of respondents. Despite these operational advantages, concerns about fairness and limited reductions in tax burdens for lower-income groups persisted. The findings suggest that while the reform has improved administrative efficiency, more attention is needed to address issues of equity and public trust in the system. Policymakers are encouraged to consider valuation-based tax methods to ensure a fairer distribution of the property tax burden.Lessons from Tanzania’s property tax reform in 2021: Perceptions of fairness and efficiencypublishedVersio

The End of Multilateralism as we know it? Assessing Current Trends in International Security.

D8.1 Working paper on institutional landscape of global security governanceThe weakening of the liberal, rules-based international order poses significant challenges for the EU, which has traditionally supported it. Geopolitical tensions, the rise of emerging powers like China, and the anti-globalist stance of the second Trump administration threaten multilateral institutions. This shift is forcing the EU to reconsider its role, moving from a normative power to a more geopolitical stance. The EU faces dilemmas in navigating these changes, balancing its interests with the increasing fragmentation of global governance, and adapting to the rise of informal, flexible arrangements such as ad hoc coalitions.The End of Multilateralism as we know it? Assessing Current Trends in International Security.This project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Call HORIZON-CL2-2021-DEMOCRACY-01 – Grant agreement n°101061621publishedVersio

A Postliberal Global Order? Challenge(r)s to the Liberal West

What unites and divides critics of liberal international politics, from the populist radical right to non-Western powers? Over the past decade, there has been a dramatic upsurge in discussions within academia, media, and policy circles concerning a crisis afflicting a “post-1945 Liberal International Order”, in Western political parlance now usually dubbed “the Rules-Based Order”. Within liberal discourse the threat to this international order is presented as chiefly illiberal, non-Western, and thus external. This report questions some of the premises of those accounts, arguing that what actors such as the European populist radical right and non-Western powers like China are united in challenging is predominantly the expansive liberal internationalism of the post-Cold War era, not the post-1945 architecture as such. This critique also runs directly through the liberal West. At the same time, the liberal West has lost a significant degree of geopolitical and moral clout: the dynamic is also a conflict over who has the right – and credibility – to speak on behalf of global values and the “international community”. In parallel, we see increased calls for greater non-Western representation in global politics – and sustained challenges to the international legal order from both Western and non-Western states. Russia and China have become prominent and uniting voices in challenging Western hegemony, and liberal democracy as an ideal. What does all this entail for the future of global politics? The report first unpacks what intensified ideological contestation in global politics entails and discusses the problem with seeing these specific dynamics through the lens of a West/non-West, democracies/autocracies binary, or through the concepts of a post-1945 Liberal International or Rules-Based Order. What are the main themes uniting an otherwise diverse crowd in a mutual critique of Western international liberalism? What is the liberal West’s own role in precipitating this crisis? In its second part, the report zooms in on the international visions of the European and US populist radical right and “New Right”, discussing what Donald Trump’s second presidency means for the mainstreaming of the Far Right, and the pushback against the dominant international liberalism of the 1990s. Who are the central actors, and what do they want for global politics? The report concludes with a discussion of the implications of this broad backlash for the liberal West.A Postliberal Global Order? Challenge(r)s to the Liberal WestpublishedVersio

Tempo og effektivitet i Norges støtte til Ukraina

Denne analysen er basert på 17 intervjuer med 30 personer i Forsvaret og forsvarsindustrien i Norge og Ukraina. Intervjuene ble gjennomført i februar, mars og april 2025, og er samfinansiert av Forsvarsprogrammet på NUPI, støttet av Forsvarsdepartementet, og ADHOCISMprosjektet, finansiert av Forskningsrådet (prosjektnr. 314967).publishedVersio

Russia’s strategic interest in the Arctic: a comparative perspective

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Memo to the Arctic Security Roundtable: The geopolitics of Arctic economic activities

This brief memo supported discussions at the MSC Arctic Security Roundtable 2025 of the Munich Security Council, which has a particular focus on economic drivers and how they impact security and governance in the region. The memo directs attention to key vectors, both long-term and more recent, that are at the intersection of economy, security and environment across national borders in the Arctic.Memo to the Arctic Security Roundtable: The geopolitics of Arctic economic activitiespublishedVersio

Mapping the Participation of ASEAN Actors in International Climate Initiatives

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The Neumannian Methodology

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Coalitions for Ukraine: Moving Beyond Stop-gap Measures

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Hybrid Frontlines: Russian Threats and the Future of Maritime Infrastructure in the Black Sea and the North Sea

This study analyzes the risks facing critical maritime infrastructure in two regions essential to European energy security: the Black Sea and the North Sea. The study highlights how the Russian Federation employs hybrid tactics — ranging from sabotage and cyberattacks to influence operations — to advance its geopolitical interests, undermining the stability and security of undersea energy and communication infrastructure. This comparative research examines the responses of Romania and Norway — two NATO member states on the frontlines of this strategic competition — and offers concrete policy recommendations for strengthening the resilience of critical maritime infrastructure. The study is part of the Strategic Initiative for Defending Critical Maritime Infrastructure (SIDMI) project conducted jointly by the New Strategy Center and Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.Hybrid Frontlines: Russian Threats and the Future of Maritime Infrastructure in the Black Sea and the North SeapublishedVersio