Jens Stoltenberg has been Secretary General of NATO since 2014, and prior to that served twice as Prime Minister of Norway.
Looking at him is interesting because, at least in the early part of his premiership, many commentators, buoyed by the end of the Cold War and the third wave of democratisation, genuinely believed that the world was converging on Norwegian attitudes towards democracy and international cooperation. During his time as NATO Secretary General, though, the World has stopped converging on Norwegian, or Western, ideals of democracy. In fact, too often, it seems as if the West is converging on the rest of the World.
In this context, is gradualism, the political approach favoured by Stoltenberg, insufficient? Stoltenberg is rarely described as controversial, but is his political philosophy and his outlook now the very thing all politicians wish to avoid becoming more than anything else - outdated?
My guest today is Magnus Takvam. Magnus is a Norwegian journalist, broadcaster and political commentator who until 2022 worked with NRK, the Norwegian state-owned Broadcasting Corporation. As well as Stoltenberg’s career, Magnus and I discuss the effect oil wealth has had on Norwegian politics and society, the 2011 Norway attacks, which occurred on Stoltenberg’s watch, and the future trajectory of Norwegian politics.
EP127: Sadyr Japarov
EP126: Jean-Bertrand Aristide
EP125: Keir Starmer
EP124: Afonso Dhlakama
EP123: J.R. Jayewardene
EP122: The Houthis (Part 2)
EP121: The Houthis (Part 1)
EP119: John Magufuli
EP118: Mary Lou McDonald
EP117: Nayib Bukele
EP116: Hezbollah
EP115: Kim Yo Jong
EP114: Hafiz al-Assad
EP113: Alex Salmond
EP112: Islam Karimov
EP111: Geert Wilders
EP110: Hun Sen
EP109: Vytautas Landsbergis
EP108: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Irish Songs with Ken Murray
History Obscura
Historycal: Words that Shaped the World
The Rest Is History
Everything Everywhere Daily