Distinguished guest, Director Jan Egeland, dear friends and colleagues,

George Orwell once said that at 50 everyone has the face he deserves. Well, NUPI makes a solid appearance at 50. New and impressive offices, a new director, and more researchers, students and employees than ever before.

By the look of the list of distinguished guest speakers here today NUPI is indeed very attractive. 

That is by no means a small achievement, considering its origin.

Founded 50 years ago on a parliamentary initiative, bearing all the hallmarks of parliamentarian politics.

As we parliamentarians like to see it, the institute was thought to be independent, but ended up being controlled by the ministries. And as we perhaps like to see it even more it was thought to be independently funded, but of course, ended up being financed by the ministries.

Certain informal sources have claimed that NUPI has been influenced by the Labour Party. Of course, I cannot comment on such unfounded rumours. But on a personal level, I would like to say that it does not pain me to see that all the directors of NUPI have been solid social democrats …

Dear friends,

NUPI was founded to provide for a better understanding of the world in a period of Cold War crises and escalation. To that end, NUPI has proved more than successful.

It has provided insight into world affairs, and it has instigated new ideas for Norwegian foreign policy.

It has challenged the general view that Norway was not to have a foreign policy. And it has encouraged an informed policy debate. And perhaps even more importantly, it has created an environment for students and scholars to come together to develop ideas and theories.

The great architect of European Unity, Jean Monnet wrote in his memoirs that “Nothing is possible without men; and nothing is lasting without institutions.”

Although my wife wouldn’t agree with the first part of it, I think we can all agree that after 50 years NUPI has gone from a tiny institute with a staff of 3 to become a fully-grown vibrant and internationally recognized foreign policy institution.

And its services are in demand more than ever.

When NUPI came into being, Norway was a small nation heavily dependent on stable and open ties with the rest of the world.

International politics was characterized by the parameters of bipolarity. Power politics was a question of West versus East. Development politics was a question of North versus South.

50 years on, the Cold War era is now history. Foreign affairs no longer revolve around great power rivalry.

For a brief period of time some thought the world had become unipolar. As Friedrich Hegel talked about the end of history after Napoleon’s victory at Jena in 1806, so Francis Fukuyama talked about the end of history in 1989.

But they were both wrong. History doesn’t end.

And however wealthy we have become, Norway is still a small nation; still heavily dependent on stable and open ties with the rest of the world.

But the world we are witnessing is clearly becoming multipolar.

Not because the idea of liberal democracy has been defeated. It’s still the best idea around. But because many other factors and actors now come into play.

It is a world of globalization. Important forces of development are no longer in the hands of sovereign governments. Capital, technology, and labour move rapidly and ever more freely around in search of the best markets.

That’s why the current financial crisis isn’t a problem of the market economy. It is a problem of globalization. In combination with greed and foolishness.

Like any other crisis, this one will end too. But it is perhaps a final testament to a system dominated by states located around the North Atlantic. The players in international politics have multiplied. And so have the parameters for understanding and action.

Tell me which country alone can take on the challenges of terrorism, organized crime, the international banking system, global warming, and the energy question? None. Not the US, not China, and definitely not Norway.

All countries need to coordinate their responses to these challenges.

At the same time democratic development has come to a halt in many parts of the world, causing ground for uncertainty. And the tragedy of the Middle East plays on.
 
This reminds me of the words of the Soviet politician and diplomat, Molotov who once said that the problem with democratic election is that we don’t know who is going to win.

We need co-operation. We need co-ordination. And we need dialogue. This won’t be possible without an institutional framework for political solutions.

I believe that the only thing for sure is that we need more insight, and we need more government to turn that insight into action.

Not bigger, not smaller, but smarter government, as Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek recently wrote.

And smarter government will depend on smarter policy.

It is a paradox that at a time when the need for the United Nations is greater than ever, the organization itself is becoming increasingly irrelevant and antiquated. That is no smart way to the future.

We must reform this global organization; adapt it to accommodate the changing power structures, and make it a forum for smart policies.
 
To contribute to this objective should be an important future ambition of NUPI.

Today a unique group of the best hearts and minds on international politics have come to Oslo to address some of the most urgent international issues of the day.

They will provide for insight and ideas to be followed up by the student scholars and established researchers.

That is how it should be. Students and researchers must challenge prevailing beliefs. They are a necessary corrective to the established political debate. To confront and develop our discourse.

A common thread for politics and science is the need for innovators to develop and move beyond the present.

It is said of Albert Einstein that he once gave a particular exam to a class that had already been set that exam.  Alarmed at what he saw and thinking it to be the result of the professor's absent–mindedness, an assistant warned Einstein of what he was about to do. The Professor just smiled and said: It's alright, the answers have changed.

Distinguished guest, dear friends

NUPI hides one of its most important values: It is an institution of classical learning.

During the past 50 years, several hundred young men and women have been student scholars at NUPI. They have been guided, they have tested ideas and they have developed ties with other students and researchers.

And then, most of them have moved on to positions in the state bureaucracy, the military establishment, the police, the media and politics. Most of them have been highly successful.

It’s said that whereever you go in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs you’ll bump into them.

Of course, the director Mr. Egeland chose a somewhat doubtful starting point; being a student scholar at NUPI’s rival, the Peace Research Institute, PRIO. But eventually, he too came of age.

Norway is a small nation, a neighbour of Russia, on the outside of the EU. Yet for reasons that are sometimes hard to grasp, the country has done well with its resources and its foreign policy.

Young men and women experienced at NUPI in international affairs have played an important part in that. Men and women who have seen the world.

Of course, we have also failed along the way.  But the true test of a viable foreign policy is not perfection. It is whether we are able to recognize when we fail and then act. Able to change the answers. And take a new smart turn.

The world of 2009 has moved beyond what many thought possible only 20 years ago. Political stability has flourished, the global economy has expanded - improving the lives of millions.

But we still have Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Congo. The problems in these hard tried places are consequences of great power rivalry and war through more than a century.

The peace that followed the First World War tried to make sense of the collapse of empires. To create some order out of the breakdown of the dual monarchy, Austria-Hungary and the vast regime of the Ottoman Empire.

The attempt to build a union of southern Slaves in the Balkans came apart 75 years later. We still live with its consequences.

After the Second World War it was the turn of the British, the French and the Portuguese empires to end.

And then at last, as the century was ending, what remained of the Russian Empire under the Soviets died a remarkable peaceful death.

But it was in the Ottoman domain that the attempts to establish a new order most spectacularly failed.

And the Middle East has not seen a peaceful month since.

The regime was divided up in secret agreements. The French faced endless rebellions in Syria and Lebanon. The British faced similar rebellions in Iraq and Palestine. And think about Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

90 years after silence appeared on the Western Front, we are confronted with the consequences of war.

That is why we need a brave new order. The great project of the 21st century must be a new architecture for world politics.

But first we must change the answers.

To that end, we need institutions such as NUPI.

Congratulations on 50 years of international insight!

Thank you for your attention.