New Security Issues In Northern Europe

This volume analyzes the Nordic and Baltic states' relationship with the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Clive Archer presents a general background to the European Union's ESDP, the strategic situation of Northern Europe, the main security and defence policy issues faced by the states there, as well as outlining the main theoretical considerations concerning security in the region. Key chapters cover the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the four Nordic states of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The selected contributors provide an analysis of the region as seen from Brussels and of the practical and theoretical issues arising from the study. This new text tackles an aspect of the ESDP that has previously received little attention, and reinvigorates old ground, blending together analytical, theoretical and policy-relevant approaches. New Security Issues in Northern Europe will be a welcome addition to all those with an interest in security studies, European politics and international relations.

This book critically analyses the changing EU-Russian security environment in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, with a particular focus on northern Europe where the EU and the Russian Federation share a common border. Russian involvement in conflict situations in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood has drastically impacted the European security environment, leading to a resurgence of competitive great power relations. The book uses the EU-Russia interface at the borders of Finland and the European North as a prism through which interwoven external and internal security challenges can be explored. Security is considered in the broadest sense of the term, as the authors consider how the security environment is reflected politically, socially and culturally within European societies. The book analyses changing political language and concepts, institutional preparedness, border governance, human security, migration and wider challenges to societal resilience. Ultimately, the book investigates into Finland’s preparedness to address new global security challenges and to find solutions to them on an everyday level. This book will be an important guide for researchers and upper-level students of security, border studies, Russian and European studies, as well as to policy makers looking to develop a wider, contextualized understanding of the challenges to stability and security in different parts of Europe.

A central point of controversy among both academics and policymakers is the nature and significance of security in the post-Cold War world. Engaging that discussion, this collection explores the new security challenges facing Europe.

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject Politics - Other International Politics Topics, grade: C, University of Lapland, language: English, abstract: After the end of the Cold War the security situation changed totally. This is especially true for the European North, which was and still is as far as we consider the Kola Peninsula for some strategic reasons the most militarised area of the world. This of course had serious influences on the security situation and the security policy of the Western countries. The Northern Countries with Sweden and Finland took the way of neutrality, while Norway and Denmark joined the NATO. Now the old confrontation between West and East disappeared, so that problems relating to this do not exist anymore. But also new problems emerged and some problems only changed their face. This essy gives a brief overview over the security challenges in the European North, it shows some possible reactions to these challenges and tries to value, if the existing Nordic Co-operation can be useful in this.

En række skribenter, bl.a. Arne Olav Brundtland og Carl Bildt, skriver om Nordens sikkerhedsproblemer videre frem i 1990'erne.

In this new Brookings Marshall Paper, Michael O'Hanlon argues that now is the time for Western nations to negotiate a new security architecture for neutral countries in eastern Europe to stabilize the region and reduce the risks of war with Russia. He believes NATO expansion has gone far enough. The core concept of this new security architecture would be one of permanent neutrality. The countries in question collectively make a broken-up arc, from Europe's far north to its south: Finland and Sweden; Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus; Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; and finally Cyprus plus Serbia, as well as possibly several other Balkan states. Discussion on the new framework should begin within NATO, followed by deliberation with the neutral countries themselves, and then formal negotiations with Russia. The new security architecture would require that Russia, like NATO, commit to help uphold the security of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and other states in the region. Russia would have to withdraw its troops from those countries in a verifiable manner; after that, corresponding sanctions on Russia would be lifted. The neutral countries would retain their rights to participate in multilateral security operations on a scale comparable to what has been the case in the past, including even those operations that might be led by NATO. They could think of and describe themselves as Western states (or anything else, for that matter). If the European Union and they so wished in the future, they could join the EU. They would have complete sovereignty and self-determination in every sense of the word. But NATO would decide not to invite them into the alliance as members. Ideally, these nations would endorse and promote this concept themselves as a more practical way to ensure their security than the current situation or any other plausible alternative.