ABSTRACT
This chapter describes Norway's post-Cold War security environment. It also describes the work and propriety of the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS), a service that for years traditionally has focused on signal intelligence in the High North. The chapter discusses the impact on effective oversight. The 'Snowden disclosures' have nevertheless enhanced the NIS' broader awareness of societal legitimacy, and thereby underscored the Committee's reliance on informal trust and confidence as a means to instil a stronger sense of accountability. Since the end of the Cold War, therefore, the NIS has undergone a fundamental transformation. The EOS Committee experienced the 'Snowden disclosures' in much the same way as the NIS: as a 'fundamental watershed' in the history of intelligence, surveillance and oversight. Finally, with reference to the 2013 'Snowden disclosures', the broader societal implications on the relationship between the NIS and the EOS Committee are explored.
