Nordic security dynamics: Past, present – and future?
Höfundur: Kristmundur Þór Ólafsson
Úrdráttur (English abstract below):
Ritgerðin fjallar um sögu og þróun öryggismála á Norðurlöndum. Sérstaklega er litið til þeirra áhrifa sem ‘öryggisvæðing’ málaflokka getur haft á viðeigandi flokka. Út frá sögu öryggismála á Norðurlöndum eru núverandi áskoranir og umræða rædd og metin.
Ritgerðin er aðgengileg á Skemmunni.
Abstract:
The security situation that has traditionally characterized Norden has been described as a periphery under pressure. Despite being geographically peripheral the Nordic region has been the subject of considerable tension in the last centuries. The Nordic countries – albeit having significant cultural similarities -have not approached the security challenges of their region as a united security bloc but have rather chosen to follow distinctly national agendas while preferring practical and non-integrative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges.Their mutual cooperation has taken a ‘de-securitized’ form that is not uncommonin modern sub-regional institutions but has been elevated to a positive merit by some Nordic theorists.
Nordic divergence has been emphasized by the different security experiences the Nordics faced in the First and Second World War, and by the Cold War when national diversity enshrined in the ‘Nordic balance’ was seen as a forcefor peace. However, the Post-Cold War security environment has changed both the traditional understanding of the nature of security, and the concrete challenges and expectations facing Nordic states. Up to 2008, the different countries’ reactions to such pressures have shown as much divergence as convergence. The question is whether greater Nordic unity and ‘securitization’ of the Nordic cooperation agenda could be brought about by, first, a new set of proposals presented to Nordic Ministers in 2009 (the Stoltenberg Report), and second, the larger new security challenges emerging in the High North. The present analysis suggests that these particular two impulses may still be insufficient.
The Thesis is available on Skemman
