Dra. Janne Haaland Matláry (2025)

Professor of International Politics at the University of Oslo, Janne Haaland Matláry (1957, Mandal, Norway) is recognised as one of Europe’s leading intellectuals in the fields of international relations, human rights, and ethical reflection on contemporary politics. Throughout her career, she has combined academic thought with political practice, having served as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Norway from 1997 to 2000 in the government of Kjell Magne Bondevik, representing the Christian Democratic Party.

Her research focuses on European foreign and security policy, the role of NATO and the United Nations in global governance, and the defence of human rights and the rule of law. She also teaches at the Norwegian National Defence University College and is widely regarded as a leading expert on defence, energy policy, and European geopolitics.

Dr Haaland Matláry has held numerous advisory and leadership roles in international institutions. She has been a member of Norway’s National Defence Commission, the Security Council of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the parliamentary committee responsible for proposing constitutional reforms for the bicentenary of the Norwegian Constitution. She has also served on the board of trustees of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and the High-level Task Force on Belarus, composed of former ministers and presidents from across Europe.

Her connection with the Holy See has likewise been significant. She was a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family, and a representative of the Holy See at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed her a lifetime member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

An advocate of a feminism rooted in Christian humanism, Haaland Matláry has developed a distinctive perspective that seeks to reconcile the full dignity and agency of women with a comprehensive Christian anthropology. This approach, which she describes as a “new feminism”, has gained considerable traction in Europe and Latin America.

Among her most notable publications are Energy Policy in the European Union (1997), Intervention for Human Rights in Europe (2002), Values and Weapons: From Humanitarian Intervention to Regime Change? (2006), Faith through Reason (2006, with a foreword by Joseph Ratzinger), and When Might Becomes Human Right (2007).  She is also the author of popular works such as Kvinners tid. Notater til et nytt feminisme (The Time of Women: Notes for a New Feminism) and Den skjulte kjærligheten. Jakten på livets mening (The Hidden Love: The Search for the Meaning of Life).

A member of the International Advisory Board of IESE and the Social Trends Institute in New York, she also belongs to the Oslo Militære Samfund (Oslo Military Society) and the Agder Vitenskapsakademi (Agder Academy of Science). In 2007, she was awarded the Saint Benedict Prize by the Benedictine community of Subiaco (Italy) for her contribution to European thought on culture and politics. She is a Dame of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Married and mother of four, Janne Haaland Matláry exemplifies a life and intellectual journey defined by a commitment to truth, human dignity and public service grounded in faith and reason.