Karsten Friis

Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Dr Karsten Friis is a Research Professor at The Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). His research area is security and defence policies in Europe, with an emphasis on NATO, the Nordic region, the Arctic, and transatlantic relations. He is a political scientist with a PhD from the University of Groningen, a Cand. Polit from the University of Oslo and an MSc from the London School of Economics. Dr Friis has been associated with NUPI since 2007. Before that, he was a political adviser to the OSCE Mission to Serbia (2004–07), the OSCE Mission to Montenegro (2001), and the OSCE Mission to Kosovo (1999). Dr Friis has worked for several years in the Norwegian Armed Forces and served at NATO/KFOR in Kosovo. He is also a frequently cited commentator in public discourse, not least on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Updated: May 8, 2026

Agenda

The Art of the Arctic: High North, Higher Stakes

LMC 2026

Articles

Nordic-Baltic Security without the United States?

When the Nordic and Baltic states joined NATO, whether in 1949, 2004, 2023, or 2024, the decision was primarily grounded in a desire to have the United States as an Ally. It was the transatlantic security ties to the global superpower and its extended conventional…

Karsten Friis

LMC 2025