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U.S.-Norway Relations

The United States and Norway enjoy a long tradition of friendly association. The relationship is strengthened by the millions of Norwegian-Americans in the United States and by about 20,000 U.S. citizens who reside in Norway. The two countries enjoy an active cultural exchange, both officially and privately. Norway closed its consulate in Minneapolis in 2008 but maintains an honorary consulate with Gary Gandrud as honorary consul.

Between 1900 and 1910 alone, a total of 190 000 people emigrated from Norway, most of them to the United States. And this was out of a total population of little more than 2 million. Most Norwegians came to the Midwest, embraced their new fatherland and at the same time retained their own identity.

During the Cold War the U.S. occupied a unique position as the main guarantor for Norway's security and freedom. The cooperation between the two countries covered the United States' obligation to provide military reinforcements to Norway in the event of a crisis or war. It also included exercise and training activities, pre-positioned U.S. supplies, intelligence, and defense cooperation. This was closely linked with the fact that Norway's neighboring areas were of strategic interest to the U.S., given the threat that Soviet military force represented for NATO. Cooperation with the US has been a cornerstone of Norway's security and defense policy ever since the war, and this state of affairs will continue into the future.

Norway's relations with the United States are closely aligned with those with the EU and Russia. Also, the relationship between the U.S. and the EU, the U.S. and Russia and the EU and Russia affect Norway's ability to manuver in its cooperation with the United States. The transformation of the EU from a regional to a global political player is creating new types of relationships with the U.S. that go beyond the traditional trade relations. The enlargement of the EU and the political and economic dynamics created by the Economic and Monetary Union.

The disappearance of the threat posed by the Soviet Union has, to some extent, altered the foundations of shared transatlantic values, even though NATO continues to stand for collective security and has been adapted to cope with new and complex security challenges. The significance of NATO's strategic concept of 1999 was particularly underscored by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The altered post-Cold War geo-strategic situation does not mean that Norway's proximity to Russia has become less relevant to Norwegian-US relations. However, the significance of these neighborly relations has changed since the end of the Cold War. The polar areas continue to be of particular strategic interest between Norway and the US. Also, a number of new fields relating to Russia and the northern areas have developed as potential opportunities for cooperation between Norway and the United States, especially energy, the environment and scientific research. For Norway, avoiding a Norwegian-Russian bilateralization of northern area issues is a goal in itself.

The US is an important player in the human rights arena including in the UN. Human rights is a central topic in the country's internal debate on international issues. Although the U.S.' approach to human rights issues does not always coincide with Norway's, the two countries usually have similar views on the progress of human rights in the various countries concerned, and they cooperate on this basis.

US military obligations relating to Norway represent an important dimension of Norway's security and defense policy. The quality and volume of the prepositioned U.S. military equipment and the bilateral reinforcement agreements were indicators of the credibility of the security and defense policy links between Norway and the US. A main objective for Norway is to help maintain the United States' Atlantic orientation. One of the ways Norway safeguards its transatlantic ties is through a comprehensive security and defense policy dialogue with the US, in which military cooperation is a central element. Continued development of Norway's strategic partnership with the US is of great importance.

For small countries like Norway, strong multilateral institutions are essential for equal participation in the international community. The political, foreign and cultural policies of the U.S. are relatively independent of other countries. Norway sees this unilateralism manifest itself in U.S. foreign policy. The end of the Cold War may have meant that in some situations the US has felt less need for multilateral solutions, especially in light of the limits that multilateral agreements set for the country's room for maneuver.