Researcher
Morten Skumsrud Andersen
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Morten S. Andersen is a Senior Research Fellow in the Research group on Global order and Diplomacy. In addition to a focus on theoretical and methodological aspects of International Relations, his research concerns how relations of power and dominance between states have evolved and been legitimated over time. In this, he focuses particularly on hierarchy and empires and on international conceptual history.
Selected publications:
(2026) “How Empires Emerge”, European Journal of International Relations.
(2025) “The Chinese are Coming! U.S. Think Tanks and the Belt and Road Initiative in the Middle East and North Africa”, with Neil Ketchley and Ole Jacob Sending, Review of International Political Economy.
(2025) “Anarchy is What the Balance of power Made of It: Two core concepts and the public/private distinction”, International Studies Quarterly, 69(3).
(2024) The Political Economy of National security, Critical Infrastructure and Securitization of Foreign Investments. Palgrave McMillan. Ed., with Jakub Godzimirski.
(2022) “The unsolicited rocket: a story of science, technology, and future wars”, Critical Military Studies. With Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud.
(2021) Undermining American Hegemony. The Logic of Goods Substitution in World Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ed., with Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon.
Expertise
Education
2016 PhD, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Title of PhD thesis: A genealogy of the balance of power.
2008 MSc International Relations; London School of Economics
2006 Bachelor in international politics, University of Oslo/Universidad Externado de Colombia
2003 Latin American studies, Universidad de Costa Rica
Work Experience
2022-2025 Head of the Research Group on Global Order and Diplomacy, NUPI
2008- Research fellow/Doctotal Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow, NUPI
Aktivitet
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Psychology, Status, and Recognition in International Politics
In this episode, Professor Deborah Welch Larson joins host Morten Skumsrud Andersen to discuss how the need for recognition and the fear of status...
Chinese Infrastructure Power in a Changing Global Landscape and its Alternatives
This seminar draws on five years of research to examine China's Belt and Road Initiative and its alternatives, from Europe and Latin America to Southeast Asia and the MENA region.
“Ambassador, you’re really spoiling us!” Diplomatic gifts and profligate autocrats
Qatar’s “unconditional” gift of a $400 million Boeing 747-8 to Donald Trump serves as a reminder that states have long used diplomatic gifts to impress others, forge bonds, and secure favorable treatment. However, in an age where citizens and media outlets routinely scrutinize public spending, there is good reason to think that not all governments are able to justify lavishing large sums on such interactions. In this paper, we test the claim that autocracies are less constrained in their diplomatic gift giving due to an absence of domestic accountability mechanisms. To evidence this, the authors draw on a dataset of diplomatic gifts presented to U.S. presidents from 2001 to 2018. The results show that autocratic regimes systematically spend more on diplomatic gifts than do democracies. Supplementary analyses suggest that this is, in part, due to new media in democracies being able to criticize profligate diplomatic practices. Interviews with Norwegian diplomats corroborate the importance of domestic media scrutiny in shaping diplomatic gift giving. The article contributes to scholarship that probes the relationship between regime type and public spending, by showing its relevance to diplomatic interactions.
The Chinese are Coming! US Think Thanks and the Belt and Road Initative in the Middle East and North Africa
Neil Ketchley (University of Oxford), Moren S. Andersen (NUPI) and Ole Jacob Sending (NUPI) shed light on the consequences of American think tanks portraying China's Belt and Road Initiative as a significant threat to American interests in the Middle East and North Africa, even though Chinese projects there are still relatively small. This perceived threat is used to strengthen and justify existing American foreign policy goals, even in regions where Chinese influence is still limited.
Trump 2.0 og internasjonal politikk
I denne spesialrapporten har Senter for geopolitikk samlet en rekke bidrag fra forskere tilknyttet senteret, fra Fridtjof Nansen Institutt, Institutt for Forsvarsstudier, Universitetet i Oslo, UiT – Norges Arktiske Universitet og Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt. Bidragene setter søkelys på noen konkrete temaer som inntak til å forstå et USA i endring og hva det vil kunne bety for andre stater, og for utviklingen på konkrete politikkfelt. Rapporten har særlig fokus på hva disse endringene, hver for seg og samlet, betyr for Europa og Norge. En oppdatert versjon ble publisert 12.06.25, klokken 12.40.
Government allocates NOK 45 million to Geopolitics Research Centre led by NUPI