Defending the rules

This unique book tells how Norway has worked across a wide number of sectors of global cooperation to strengthen a rules-based world order: It is highly recommended to individuals and organizations wanting to learn and understand not only Norwegian foreign policy, but also the nature and workings of multilateral diplomacy.

Norway has sometimes been said to be punching above its weight in international relations. When the major powers abdicate their responsibility to uphold a world order based on international law, the author argues that small and medium-sized countries like Norway still have key roles to play in safeguarding what has been achieved and in moving the global agenda forward.

The author, Ambassador Bjørn Skogmo, can look back on a career spanning over 40 years in the Norwegian Foreign Service. As high-level advisor and representative for successive Norwegian Governments during this period, he has been a participant and eyewitness in processes on how Norway has dealt with a time of rapid and fundamental global change. His wide range of work experience includes the human rights agenda, conflict resolution and international peacekeeping, disarmament, international development, global health and UN reform processes. He has served as Norway’s ambassador to UN organizations in Geneva and as Norway’s ambassador to France.