Mr. Barth Eide gave an informative overview of the main areas of focus for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense and where Asia (particularly Japan) fits into this. Themes included current security and geopolitical issues, such as Norway’s role in international NATO missions, enforcing the Schengen border with Russia and Norway’s interest in the Artic region. He also touched upon the Ministry’s role in protecting Norway’s commercial interests in energy, shipping and fishing industries.

Of particular interest to the Norwegian-Japanese community was his assessment of how quickly the icecaps around the North-Pole are melting, which within a few years will open up commercial shipping routes in the Northeast passage (the seas north of Russia), dramatically reducing both the time and cost of transporting commercial goods between Europe and East-Asia. He commented that the traditional role of a navy had been to ensure the safety of shipping lines, and that both the Japanese and Norwegian navies were looking into how best to ensure the safety of the Northeast passage. Both countries are also in continuing discussions with the Russian government on this and related issues.

Barth Eide also briefly touched upon the deployment of Norwegian forces in Afghanistan, a development which would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. He stressed that the Asian region was becoming increasingly important as the world moved towards multi-polarity, particularly the emergence of China both economically as well as militarily.

Both being sea-faring nations, Japan and Norway share some of the same challenges, such as keeping sea-lines open and policing the rich resources the ocean has to offer. Having met with top military leaders of the Japanese Self-Defense forces, Barth Eide wrapped up the lecture by saying that it was important for Norway and Japan to have bilateral meetings on a regular basis, as the two countries share some of the same challenges, a message well received by the large audience who had turned up at the start of their weekend to listen to Mr. Bart Eide’s lecture.