Episode 3 - Norway's Balancing Act
In this final episode of "Cross Currents" we explore Norway's challenging balancing act in their relationship with the United States in the years after 9/11. How would Norway maintain a close partnership with the US, on the one hand, while also remaining committed to keeping NATO a strong and relevant worldwide alliance? In addition to this, Norway's leaders had to continue answering to their own domestic constituencies, reassure their European allies, and of course, achieve their own nation's long-term defense and security objectives.
This episode features interviews with multiple of the key players in this balancing act, including Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, and the two leaders pictured above with US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: Norway's Defense Minister Kristin Krohn Devold and Norway's Ambassador to the US, Knut Vollebæk.
*Documentation Note - A Good Ally: Norway in Afghanistan, 2001-2014
Dr. Leong refers several times to an important report published by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defence. That report, commissioned in November 2014 and published in June 2016, is entitled A Good Ally: Norway in Afghanistan, 2001-2014. You may download and read the complete report by clicking here.