Research Interests
Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) since 1997, Former Head of Corporate Governance (2005-07) at Norges Bank Investment Management. He is Chief Editor of the
Journal of Military Ethics and part-time Associate Professor at the Norwegian Defence University College. He has previously been a Fulbright fellow at Boston College, USA (1989-91), a Norwegian Research Council fellow at the University of Oslo (1992-97), a journal editor for the Norwegian political journal
Tidens Tegn (1998-2000), member of the secretariat of the Norwegian Government Commission on Human Values (1998-2001), and a post-doc. fellow at the Ethics Program, the University of Oslo (2002-05). He has lectured and published widely on problems within moral philosophy, political philosophy, and the ethics of warfare. He has published a book on just war in Norwegian (
Rettferdig krig; Aschehoug, 2003), and he has recently published
Natural Law, Religion, and Rights (St. Augustine’s Press, 2007), based on his doctoral dissertation, and a Norwegian monograph on the virtue of moderation (
Måtehold; Cappelen Damm, 2009). He is the co-editor, with Gregory Reichberg and Endre Begby, of
The Ethics of War: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Blackwell, 2006), and, with Gregory Reichberg, of
Ethics, Nationalism, and Just War (Catholic University of America Press, 2007).
At PRIO he works on the ethics of war, historically and systematically, as well as on the relationship between religion and the use of armed force. He is also a lecturer at Bjørknes College, contributing to the Master's degree program jointly undertaken by PRIO, Bjørknes, and the Australian National University.
Background
Languages spoken:
Norwegian, English, German
Working experience:
Head of Corporate Governance, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), 2005 - 2007
Post-doc Research Fellow, University of Oslo, 2002 - 2005.Part-time Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, 2001-2003
Member of the Secretariat of the Norwegian Government Commission on Human Values 1998-2001.
Chief editor of political journal 'Tidens Tegn' 1998-2000. Senior researcher at PRIO since 1997.
Programme leader for the PRIO research program 'Ethics, Norms, and Identities' 1998-2002.
Education:
Dr.Art. (equiv. to PhD), University of Oslo, 1997;
Master of Arts, Boston College, 1991;
Cand.Mag. (equiv. to B.A.), University of Oslo, 1989. Fulbright scholar 1989-1991.
Doctoral student under the Ethics Program of the Norwegian Research Council 1992-1996.
Blog Posts
Posted by Henrik Syse on Monday, 29 June 2020
Hilde Henriksen Waage, interviewed by Henrik Syse Between Israel and the Palestinians there has always been a huge asymmetry of power. There is a strong party and a weak party, and this has made it impossible to achieve a genuine peace. A nice little bridge-builder like Norway cannot easily change ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Monday, 16 March 2020
It has been interesting to see how many news outlets and broadcasters ask for angles and insights these days from what we can broadly call a philosophical perspective. As we face the COVID-19 pandemic, I am one of those to be asked, and I humbly try to contribute. So, what ... Read more »
In the wake of the foiled terrorist attack at a mosque outside Oslo on 10 August, and the widespread solidarity seen outside mosques around Norway on the morning of Eid, we reflect on the prospects for hope and for the endurance of social fabric. We do so by drawing on ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Friday, 28 April 2017
The relationship between memory and conflict is one of several themes highlighted by the NECORE project, and it has recently come into focus again in an emotional way, related to the tragic events of 22/7. The bone of contention is the projected Utøya memorial. Where should such a memorial for ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Thursday, 26 January 2017
Many people are afraid of what faces us with Donald Trump as president. Nonetheless, I recommend keeping a cool head. My area of research should be useful for analyzing and understanding politics, namely political philosophy. This is the branch of philosophy that investigates political ideas and attempts to put them ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Tuesday, 27 December 2016
Decency, humility, and thoughtfulness are core virtues in a civilized society. Now we need to fight for them. «Political correctness» can be a sinister labeling for common decency «Political correctness» can be a sinister labeling for common decency. A wish to preserve dignity and openness, and to avoid willfully disrespecting others’ ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Friday, 22 July 2016
Five years have passed since the shocking events of 22 July 2011. We still notice how these events have taken hold of us. We notice it all the more when similar terrorist attacks take place elsewhere in the world: in Istanbul, Dallas or Nice. We shed tears in sympathy with ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Wednesday, 20 July 2016
As 22 July 2011 becomes a more distant memory, we are overwhelmed with massacres and terrorist attacks in other parts of the world, including fierce attacks in Turkey, France, and the United States. At the time of writing, the terrorist attack in Nice, France, is the most recent. Many of ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Friday, 27 November 2015
In his New Year’s Eve speech last year, King Harald used the expression “We should say kind words”. Some weeks later, many of us were saying “Je suis Charlie”, expressing solidarity with a periodical that published satire that many people certainly found was not kind at all. Can we reconcile ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Wednesday, 9 September 2015
We must both take in refugees and preserve our culture and way of living. A flood of migrants is coming to Europe. They are fleeing chaos and war. They are from all levels of society. The vast majority would have remained in their homelands if they had been able. But ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Wednesday, 22 July 2015
Four years have passed since the biggest terror attacks on Norwegian soil during peacetime. Once again we are solemnly commemorating the dead and expressing our solidarity. The debate about the potential uses of the actual sites that were affected is also very much alive and continuing. But are there other ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Thursday, 9 April 2015
The Hitler analogy – also known as the Munich analogy – is deployed frequently in political debate. In Munich in 1938, the British prime minister made the historic error of failing to comprehend the extent of the evil represented by Adolf Hitler. Chamberlain signed a peace agreement with Hitler that ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Thursday, 15 January 2015
Why do satirists and critics of religion have to be so provocative? Why must they publish images that they know to be offensive to some people’s beliefs and traditions – and that brutal extremists may use as a pretext for terrorist acts? That such questions are asked is understandable. But ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Thursday, 21 August 2014
Recent weeks have shown us – yet again – how complex and terrible war is. We can all agree that terrorism and brutal fanaticism must be met with robust responses. But it is easy to say that one must do “something” (not to mention that one must do “more”). When ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Friday, 27 June 2014
One of the most famous anecdotes about the passing of time is from the early 1970s, when Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was asked what he thought about the French Revolution, to which he replied: ‘It is too early to say’. The fact that the interpreter has later pointed out that ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse & Odin Lysaker on Wednesday, 30 October 2013
”This is moralism‘, we were told after having published an op-ed in one of the largest Norwegian newspapers, Aftenposten, in June 2013. This reaction made us even more curious about whether ethics is of any relevance to citizens’ freedom of expression. In our view, the critique is due to the ... Read more »
Posted by Henrik Syse on Thursday, 29 September 2011
Abraham Lincoln once said: ‘It is hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.’ It takes belief and faith, it takes self-confidence and persistence, to lead a cavalry charge against injustice – and John Lewis has displayed all of those qualities. He has ... Read more »