Stein Dorenfeldt Tønnesson (born 2 December 1953), is a Norwegian historian.

Career

He was the director of the

Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO; ) is a private research institution in peace and conflict studies, based in Oslo, Norway, with around 100 employees. It was founded in 1959 by a group of Norwegian researchers led by Johan Galtung, who was ...

from 2001 to 2009, when he was replaced by

Kristian Berg Harpviken Kristian Berg Harpviken (born 27 December 1961) is a Norwegian sociologist and researcher, and since 2025 director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute. Harpviken is foremost known for his competence on Afghanistan, where he has travelled extensi ...

. Stein Tønnesson stays on at PRIO as a Research Professor, while at the

United States Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American independent, nonprofit, national institute funded by the U.S. Congress and tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. See alsPDF on USIP website. It provides rese ...

(USIP) as

Jennings Randolph Jennings Randolph (March 8, 1902May 8, 1998) was an American politician from West Virginia. A Democrat, he was most notable for his service in the United States House of Representatives from 1933 to 1947 and the United States Senate from 1958 to ...

Senior Fellow 2010-11. Educated at the

University of Aarhus Aarhus University (, abbreviated AU) is a public research university. Its main campus is located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Group, the Guild, and Utr ...

and the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, he received his dr. philos. in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from the University of Oslo in 1991. Tønnesson's foremost research efforts have been revolution and

war in Vietnam The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

South-East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia i ...

, the South China Sea conflict, and Norwegian

sports history The history of sports extends back to the Ancient world in 7000 BC. The physical activity that developed into sports had early links with warfare and entertainment. Study of the history of sport can teach lessons about sociology, social changes ...

. Tønnesson has also worked as a journalist. His interests the past decade has been in particular global history,

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

and the decades of relative peace in south east Asia since 1979. Stein Tønnesson has worked as Professor of Human Development Studies at the

Centre for Development and the Environment Centre for Development and the Environment (, SUM) is a research centre at the University of Oslo. The overarching goal of SUM is to conduct interdisciplinary research, teaching, and dissemination on development and environmental issues, with a pa ...

(SUM) at the

, and has also been a senior research fellow at the Nordic Institute for Asia Studies (NIAS) in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Personal life

He is a son of professor of history,

Kåre Tønnesson Kåre Dorenfeldt Tønnesson (1 January 1926 – 26 September 2019) was a Norwegian historian and professor at the University of Oslo. He finished his secondary education at Valler in 1944. After enrolling in philological studies at the Universi ...

. He grew up in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

and attended

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian language, Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",

References

External links

Cliostein
(Tønnesson's web site)
Homepage at PRIO
1953 births Living people Writers from Bærum Norwegian journalists 20th-century Norwegian historians Aarhus University alumni University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Writers from Oslo Historians of the Vietnam War {{Norway-historian-stub