Security Policy in the Nordic Countries: Perceptions, Resources, History

This report deals with security policy in the Nordic countries, seen in a broad perspective. It records the contribution from FOI Division of Defence Analysis, Project North European Security and Stability, to a larger study produced jointly with the International Centre for Defence Studies (ICDS) in Tallinn, Estonia. This study - to be published in the second half of 2010 - concerns the question of long range security in the Baltic Sea Region and how to further this through extended co-operation between the riparian states. The notion is that it is a common interest to secure the sovereignty and integrity of all the riparian states in the long term. The challenge facing the riparian states concerns identifying new areas and formats for co-operation that would contribute to security and stability in the region, as well as finding motives for continued, possibly strengthened, EU and NATO interest for the security problems of the region. As concerns Russia, this means that the other riparian states must find a suitable balance between cooperation with this country and co-operation between themselves in order to prevent Russia from gaining security policy advantages at the expense of some of the other riparian states. This FOI report includes four chapters covering Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark plus a fifth chapter covering Nordic co-operative security. Iceland (the fifth Nordic country) is not dealt with here as its importance for the Baltic Sea Region is of a more indirect nature. Each country chapter describes geography and population; political system; economy, energy, and environment; armed forces; security policy in a historical context; present security challenges and security policy; and the role of public opinion. The fifth chapter covers today's Nordic co-operative security, the Stoltenberg Report, the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, and prospects for regional security co-operation. ICDS is responsible for the chapters covering the other riparian states: the Baltic States, Poland, Germany, and Russia - with a similar lay-out. The chapter on Analysis and Conclusions will be produced jointly by ICDS and FOI. The complete study will be published through ICDS. The manuscript for this FOI report was finalised in December 2009.