In 2014, Norway created the world’s first all-female special operations unit — out of necessity.

Beginning in 2001, Norway’s top special operations unit, the Forsvarets Spesialkommando, or FSK, played a tip-of-the-spear role in Operation Enduring Freedom, often working alongside Delta Force and Navy SEAL operatives. However, the FSK, like many all-male Western military units operating in predominantly Muslim countries, found itself disadvantaged when it came to one pretty major aspect of counterinsurgency: dealing with the local female population.

“In Afghanistan, one of our biggest challenges was that we would enter houses and not be able to speak to the women,” Capt Ole Vidar Krogsaeter, an officer with the Norwegian Special Operations Forces, said in an interview with Foreign Affairs. “In urban warfare, you have to be able to interact with women as well. Adding female soldiers was an operational need.”

Enter the Jegertroppen, or “Hunter Troop” — the world’s first and only all-female special operations unit.

Since its establishment in 2014, Jegertroppen has earned a reputation for its rigorous instruction and low acceptance rates. Its yearlong training program includes a series of grueling challenges, and candidates must complete modules in Arctic survival, counterterrorism, urban warfare, long-range patrols, and airborne operations. According to the Norwegian Special Operations Forces Command, only 13 of the unit’s 317 candidates made it through the Jegertroppen course in 2014 — a 96% attrition rate that is similar to the Forsvarets Spesialkommando’s. 2015 posted similar numbers.

Colonel Frode Kristoffersen, the head of Norway’s Special Forces, told Foreign Affairs that the Hunter Troop will have a huge impact on Norway’s military capabilities. For one, the Jegertroppen’s presence on the ground could open up critical interactions and information channels with indigenous female populations in future conflicts, especially in the Middle East. Kristoffersen also explained that the unit’s members have displayed superior shooting and observation skills.

The creation of an elite all-female unit highlights a trend in Norway’s increasingly diverse armed forces. In 2002, women comprised only 0.7% of its military. That number is now at 10% and steadily growing, with most projections suggesting that the Norwegian military will be 20% women by 2020. In 2015, Norway became the first NATO country to introduce universal conscription. Norwegian officials maintain the changing military landscape does not affect the selection criteria. Physical standards for women are almost the same as they are for men, with only a few exceptions— for example, Jegertroppen soldiers carry 60-pound rucksacks instead of the heavier 88-pound packs their male counterparts carry.

It’s still too early to say whether this will spell mixed-gender combat deployments for Norwegian special forces, because the “Hunter Troop” is still considered a “test project” and hasn’t rotated overseas yet. And of course, a lot will need to be done to ensure these all-female units aren’t regarded as second-tier outfits if and when they deploy. But if the Jegertroppen continue to grow their applicant pool and raise the bar for future classes—the applicants for its second class scored higher than the first— it seems likely that they’ll be fighting alongside their male counterparts in future conflicts.

(taskandpurpose)

Norway is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), enjoying the Alliance’s protection as a nuclear umbrella state and yet widely known for its association with peace issues: not only for hosting the first international Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Oslo in March 2013.

“Norway (also) took the lead in the Oslo Process which culminated in the signing of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2008,” said Hitotsugu Terasaki, director general of peace and global issues at the Soka Gakkai International (SGI).

SGI joined hands with three Norwegian peace organizations – ICAN Norway, No to Nuclear Weapons (NNW) and the Norwegian Peace Association (NPA) – to arrange an event in Bergen, Norway’s second largest city with a population of 260,000.

The event on September 5 consisted of an exhibition titled Everything You Treasure – For a World Free From Nuclear Weapons and a symposium titled, ‘Conversation: A way forward to eliminate nuclear weapons – Perspectives of Norwegian and Japanese peace movements’.

The exhibition was first set up in cooperation with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), in September 2012 in Hiroshima, the target of first-ever atomic bombings along with Nagasaki in 1945.

Five years earlier, SGI had launched the People’s Decade for Nuclear Abolition (PDNA), collaborating with various NGOs committed to the anti-nuclear weapons movement.

The exhibition has meanwhile been shown in 62 cities in 15 countries – and more cities and countries for display are in planning. Each time the exhibition is shown in a different city, SGI organizes an event similar to that in Bergen, in order to create a platform for dialogue as well as to expand the grassroots network of groups and individuals around the world who want to abolish nuclear weapons.

The goal of the exhibition that looks at the nuclear weapons issue from 12 different perspectives is to create linkages to other people’s areas of interest in order to increase global awareness, said Kimiaki Kawai, SGI’s director of peace and human rights. “All of us should be involved.”

Kawai added: “In our day-to-day life, we don’t see nuclear weapons and it is easy for people to lose interest in the question. So one of the things we emphasize is that if money spent on nuclear weapons is spent on health and other crucial questions, life would be better.”

SGI is a Tokyo-based lay Buddhist organization, which has a strong tradition for peace work and official ties with the United Nations. Along with other groups, including faith-based groups, SGI has been calling for action on disarmament since 1957, when the Declaration Calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons was issued at the height of the Cold War by Josei Toda, then president of Soka Gakkai.

“It’s very important now more than ever that civil society organizations work together on this issue in order to avoid any political deadlock,” Terasaki told IDN.

The Bergen event followed in the footsteps of the UN Open Ended Working group on nuclear disarmament (OEWG) that wrapped up in Geneva on August 19 the third series of sessions, convened since February, by adopting a recommendation to the United Nations General Assembly to initiate negotiations on a legal instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their elimination.

In Geneva, Norway was among countries including Japan that abstained from voting in favour of the UN General Assembly initiating negotiations for a ban on nuclear weapons to start in 2017. But, unlike other NATO countries, it did not oppose the report of the OEWG that will be presented to the UN General Assembly in October 2016.

The report also includes a recommendation for States to undertake measures to reduce and eliminate the risk of nuclear weapons use, increase transparency about nuclear weapons and enhance awareness about the humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons.

“At different points in time during the 71-year period (since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) the global movement (against nuclear weapons) has been stagnant while other times saw a more positive outlook,” said Terasaki. “However, we are in the final years of being able to listen directly to the experiences of hibakusha [survivors of the atomic bombings] who are raising their voices to abolish nuclear weapons,“ he added.

In the ‘Conversation: A way forward to eliminate nuclear weapons’, Frode Ersfjord from ‘No to Nuclear Weapons’, who spent time in Japan this summer, and visited Hiroshima, stressed the need for grassroots actions as well as political activity. A combination of good organizers and institutional memory is crucial for getting people out on the streets – demonstrations on a particular issue often start off small but attendance swells as time goes on.

Representatives from three Opposition parties – the Socialist Left, Greens and Reds – who joined the Conversation said they all agreed that the campaign to abolish nuclear weapons had to be carried out on a national basis as well as internationally.

Active participants included: Susanne Urban from Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Bergen and peace academic Arne Strand from the Christian Michelsen Institute.

In a short interview with IDN, Urban observed that the nuclear threat is very close. “We‘re very interrelated and connected: we can’t harm others without harming ourselves,” she said. This point is also stressed in one of the exhibition panels.

Strand pointed out that “we’re quite good at looking at new conflicts and the changing world situation, but we overlook the old issue of nuclear disarmament because it’s been around for such a long time that we’re used to it. But there are certain things happening now, like between the U.S. and Russia, that should be of concern to us, and also whether terrorist groups could get access to nuclear weapons.”

Fredrik Heldal, director of the Norwegian Peace Association, said: “Instead of concentrating on the political side – the pros and cons of bans, lobbying and such like – we need to make it more into an ethical issue. A discussion on ethics and morals … will resonate more and it will be easier to sell the issue.” [IDN-InDepthNews – 09 September 2016]

Photo: Visitors to the exhibition Everything You Treasure – For a World Free From Nuclear Weapons. Credit: Daisuke Tomoe.

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will get firsthand knowledge of Norwegian military capabilities during his visit to Norway this week.

Together with Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide, Ashton Bodo will visit on Thursday and Friday. On Friday, Ashton Carter and Ine Eriksen Søreide will have bilateral talks and visit Joint Headquarters at Reitan and Bodø airbase.

– I look forward to showing Carter a bit of Norway and the Defense. The US is our most important ally, and it is important for us to show Carter how Norway takes responsibility for security in our own neighborhood, and that we are a trustworthy ally, says Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide in advance of the visit.

It is 11 years since an American defense minister visited Norway, but Carter and Søreide have met on numerous occasions. Most recently in Washington last September.

Combat aircraft and north areas

The Norway visit ends Friday afternoon with a joint press conference in Oslo. It is envisaged that the two defense ministers during talks in Bodo will discuss bilateral relations between the United States and Norway. In addition to the security situation in areas adjacent to Norway.

– The political discussions will revolve around the relationship with the United States, if there are things we must do more or less of. It’s about new combat aircraft and Allied training in Norway – simply all the points we work on, says senior adviser Marita Wangberg from the Defense Ministry.

(NTB scanpix / Norway Today)

On 6 September, US Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose and Senior Researcher Sverre Lodgaard (NUPI) discussed nuclear policy.

In a lively and thought provoking breakfast seminar at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies (IFS), United States Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose and Senior Researcher Sverre Lodgaard of the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI) discussed issues ranging from nuclear disarmament, ballistic missile defense, treaty obligations and US nuclear declaratory policy. IFS Director Sven Holtsmark offered a few introductory remarks and the seminar was chaired by IFS Research Fellow Kristin Ven Bruusgaard.

The seasoned US diplomat prefaced his remarks by alluding to a series of news reports that he believed inaccurately portrayed the positions of the Obama administrations nuclear weapons policies. Rose spoke out strongly against one proposal currently being debated – a treaty to completely ban nuclear weapons – and instead suggested that the US was willing to further reduce its arsenal by one third but lacked constructive and willing partners. He argued that the United States has made good progress on disarmament after the president’s 2009 Prague speech calling for a nuclear weapons free world.

US DISARMAMENT AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS MODERNIZATION
Rose listed the administration’s disarmament accomplishments, including the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review which included a so-called “Negative Security Assurance” in US declaratory policy (for non-nuclear weapons states in compliance with the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)), the signing of the New START Treaty with Russia reducing and limiting numbers of nuclear delivery systems and (crucially) continuing the transparency-enhancing verification regime, the series of four nuclear security summits, and the signing of an agreement with the government of Iran ending its nuclear weapons program.

Rose maintained that warhead modernization programs in the United States are necessary to maintain the reliability and safety of these ageing weapons systems, and pointed out that by retaining a reliable nuclear triad and reducing the incentive for an adversary to threaten a first strike, the US is promoting strategic stability. He pointed out that both Russia and China have been pursuing modernization programs for a number of years.

He noted that Russia remains in (serious) violation of the treaty on Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) in Europe [ed: due to its development of a new land-based cruise missile], but emphasized that it was most important to remain focused on the continued implementation of New START. Rose dismissed the treaty for a complete ban on nuclear weapons as an unrealistic “pie in the sky” proposal that does not take the current security environment into account, would not bind existing nuclear weapons states, has no viable verification regime and may harm disarmament efforts within the NPT framework.

LODGAARD’S COMMENTS ON US POLICY
Senior Researcher Sverre Lodgaard, in his response, first touched on broad geopolitical trends by observing that the American empire would naturally be most focused on the second most powerful state in the system striving to overtake the hegemon, namely China. He suggested that US–China arms control talks might be necessary in the near future. Lodgaard agreed with much of Rose’s talk, and was complimentary of the administration’s disarmament efforts within its first 18 months. The 2010 NPR was a breakthrough with its Negative Security Assurance, even though he saw no reason not to expand this assurance to a full “no first use” policy.

Lodgaard challenged other elements of US policy as well. He contrasted Iran’s compliance to the new “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” with the continued lack of movement in the United States on sanctions relief, but placed the blame primarily on the complexity of the sanctions and the inaction of the US Congress. Additionally, the Iran deal also further weakened the already questionable justification for US and NATO missile defense system in Europe. Lodgaard argued that Russia and China might be justified in their concerns over American missile defense deployments and the threat to their strategic deterrent capabilities He questioned the wisdom of developing a conventional prompt global strike capability that could be confused with nuclear delivery systems and therefore be inherently destabilizing. Lodgaard concluded by suggesting a new conference to begin outlining how a nuclear free world might look.

Q&A: BMD, NUCLEAR WEAPONS BAN AND NATO POLICY
Several lively queries from the audience challenged Assistant Secretary Rose. One participant wondered about a new strategic dialogue with Russia about BMD, which Rose responded to by reiterating that the US is ready to discuss strategic issues with Russia, but that the most important issue at hand now to keep New START on track. Rose noted once again that the US was willing to reduce its nuclear stockpiles by an additional one-third, but this required a productive partner – which Russia currently was not.

A participant inquired about the nuclear weapons ban treaty that had been discussed in the Norwegian parliament, and whether support for such a ban was consistent with Norway’s NATO membership. Rose declined to comment on domestic Norwegian politics but pointed out that NATOs defense policy continues to include a nuclear deterrent capability and is therefore incompatible with a complete ban. Furthermore, he pointed out that a verification regime for delivery systems such as that included in New START was difficult, and verifying individual warheads (which would be necessary for such a ban) would be even more challenging.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
Encouraged by Ven Bruusgaard to reflect over potential lessons of Cold War disarmament for managing adversarial relations between great powers, Lodgaard noted that importance of institutions and confidence building measures for improving both arms control regimes and strategic relationships. Rose observed that while arms control and defense policy were closely linked during the Cold War, this connection has been lost in the post-Cold War era. Rose concluded by noting that disarmament and arms control were not goals themselves, but means to produce stable and predictable relationships that improve international security.

(forsvaret, Summary by Michael Mayer)

Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance Frank A. Rose will visit Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and France from September 4 to 13 for events and bilateral meetings on international security and arms control.

On September 5-6, Assistant Secretary Rose will meet in Oslo with senior officials in the Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs to discuss international security and arms control, among other issues. He will deliver remarks on strategic stability and regional security at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies.

On September 7, Assistant Secretary Rose will be in Geneva for meetings with delegations at the Conference on Disarmament. While there, he will also provide an update on the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV).

In Berlin, on September 8, Assistant Secretary Rose will meet with senior officials in the Chancellery, Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, and members of parliament to discuss arms control and strategic stability issues.

Assistant Secretary Rose will then travel to Brussels on September 9 for meetings on regional security and arms control with NATO Allies and officials. He will also meet with European Union officials to discuss space security issues.

From September 10 to 12, Assistant Secretary Rose will travel to London for meetings with senior officials at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defense, and the Cabinet Office to discuss arms control, strategic stability, and other security matters. On September 12, he will participate in a roundtable discussion on deterrence at the Royal United Services Institute.

On September 13, Assistant Secretary Rose will travel to Paris for meetings with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense on arms control and international security.

(state)