ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the extent to which Norway, by performing like a great power, by taking responsibility for international peace and security well beyond what would be expected of a small state. An important factor in Norway's high status is the country's involvement in international peace and security, be it through humanitarian or military means. Norway, a small state, cannot reasonably aspire to great-power status. But it is a small state with enough resources available that it can act on its wishes, if it so desires. As a consequence of this posture, various Norwegian cabinet members have over the past two decades referred to Norway as a 'humanitarian great power' as both a description and normative ambition of the country's foreign policy and international engagement. The idea of a humanitarian great power implies different status hierarchies, and hints at the category of a 'good power' proposed by Neumann and de Carvalho.
