English National Security or Economic Efficiency? Norway's Ability to Detect Hybrid Threats in a Contemporary History Perspective

In recent years several parts of Norwegian national security legislation has been strengthened. A key goal has been to improve the capacity for situational awareness and crisis management in the face of Russian or Chinese hybrid threats. This article takes a contemporary history approach to the develop-ment of Norwegian protective security in the decades since the end of the cold war. It shows how the reach of the state has been modified by competing pressures from changing threat assessments and the ambition of government reforms, economic liberalisation and internationalisation. Until 2014 security tended to take the back seat. The balance began to change following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and a renewed emphasis on great power rivalry. The article concludes that the juxtaposition of security-motivated state inter-vention and economic freedoms is not a puzzle to be solved, but rather a permanent balancing act. Consequently, the vulnerable edges of legislation, where state regulation ends, may be moved but not abolished.