The petroleum age. Norwegian security politics in the Post-Cold War era

In the Post-Cold War era, the threat to Norwegian security has changed from a one-dimensional Soviet threat to a multidimensional terrorist threat. Th e article discusses how Norwegian security has been affected by the country 's role as a major exporter of gas and oil. Germany, France and Belgium hav e now become strategically dependent upon Norwegian gas supplies, which mak es closing down Norwegian production in a crisis an unrealistic policy. The article analyses how this dependency exposes Norway to threats from actors who wish to influence large importers of Norwegian energy, arguing that th e Norwegian defence needs sufficient resources to avoid being the weakest l ink in German and French energy supplies. The article advocates that Norweg ian defence planning should actively engage states that are dependent upon Norwegian energy supplies on a bilateral basis, using their self-interest i n defending the highly vulnerable installations in the North Sea.