Nordic Countries in Transatlantic Partnership: a Severe Challenge

In: Mirovaja ėkonomika i meždunarodnye otnošenija: MĖMO, Band 60, Heft 3, S. 27-35

Abstract

In the Euro-Atlantic relations system (USA, NATO, EU), small Nordic countries are forced, in a conformist way, to adapt themselves to unsteady parameters of global and regional conditions. Irrespective of the Ukrainian crisis duration, they will drift together with their EU partners to a greater autonomy from the USA, not interrupting tight links with their transatlantic supervisor. It seems that the geopolitical pressure on Russia, the creation of threat to its North-West by the growing military potential is not seen very clearly. A deep transformation of relations between the USA, Europe and Russia indirectly affected the Nordic Europe. The mobilization of elites and inhabitants on the basis of defensive discourse is taking place in the Northern subregion. NATO and EU are trying to react accordingly, but still do not justify the expectations of Nordic Europeans. The new strategy accomplishing to deter Moscow's "revisionist behavior", but at the same time, to secure Russia's involvement in international affairs for a long-term perspective is, from viewpoint of the Nordic community, one of the priority tasks of transatlantic partners for a more balanced, stable, complex world order. The transatlantic policy of Nordic countries is changeable in a very short range of variants. In this subregion, one may see the interaction/competition between two segments of the Euro-Atlantic security: NATO (art. 5 of the Washington Treaty) and EU (Lisbon Treaty – an additional option) as an independent "power center". The activation, especially the institutionalization of the subregional Northern defense cooperation (the report made by T. Stoltenberg on February 9, 2009; NORDEFCO; the initiative of the Ministers of Defense on April 9, 2015) may become a new strategic macro factor under conditions of the complicated interaction/ competition between two segments (NATO and EU) for the Euro-Atlantic security in the future Europe.