The Nordic Balance: A Security Policy Concept in Theory and Practice
| Author | Erik Noreen |
| Published date | 01 March 1983 |
| Date | 01 March 1983 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/001083678301800104 |
The
Nordic
Balance:
A
Security
Policy
Concept
in
Theory
and
Practice
ERIK
NOREEN
Department
of
Peace
and
Conflict
Research,
Uppsala
University
Noreen,
E.
The
Nordic
Balance:
A
Security
Policy
Concept
in
Theory
and
Practice.
Cooperation
and
Conflict,
XVIII
,
1983,
43-56.
The
article
(1)
analyses
the
theory
of
Nordic
Balance,
developed
by
A.
O.
Brundtland,
and
(2)
examines
the
political
use
of
the
Nordic
Balance
concept
in
Norway,
Sweden
and
Finland.
The
author
believes
that
this
concept
can
be
interpreted
in
various
ways,
depending
on
the
perspective
in
which
it
is
placed.
In
Brundtland’s
description
we
find
two
perspectives:
the
bipolar
and
the
Nordic.
The
former
concerns
the
balance
of
power
between
the
Great
Power
blocs,
the
latter
is
more
a
matter
of
interplay
between
the
different
models
of
security
policy
in
Fenno-Scandinavia.
The
theoretical
pre-condition
—
balance
within
the
Nordic
context
—
will
thus
be
called
into
question.
The
problem
of
various
interpretations
affects
the
political
use
of
the
Nordic
Balance
concept.
The
meaning
of
the
term
is
therefore
dependent
on
the
security
policy
context
in
which
it
is
used.
It
is
concluded
that
the
term
Nordic
Balance
is
more
confusing
than
elucidating
and
should
be
excluded
from
the
vocabulary
of
international
politics
as
well
as
defence
and
foreign
policy.
INTRODUCTION
Since
the
beginning
of
the
sixties,
it
has
been
commonplace
among
politicians,
journalists,
scholars
of
international
pol-
itics,
etc.,
to
use
the
concept
of
balance
within
the
Nordic
security
policy
context.
In
Norway,
the
term
balance,
in
reference
to
the
Nordic
region,
was
introduced
by
Foreign
Minister
Lange
in
connection
with
the
so-called
Note
Crisis
in
1961.
After
this
crisis,
the
Norwegian
Institute
of
Foreign
Affairs
(Norsk
Utenrikspoli-
tisk
Institutt,
NUPI)
started
a
research
project
aimed
at
investigating
security
policy
problems
in
the
Nordic
area.
The
main
result
of
this
research
was
the
theory
of
the
Nordic
Balance.
In
Sweden
the
concept
has
played
an
important
role
in
official
documents
on
defence
and
foreign
affairs,
as
well
as
in
the
public
defence
debate.
Even
Finnish
politicians
have
been
using
terms
such
as
’balance’
and
’equilibrium’
when
referring
to
security
policy
conditions
in
Fenno-Scandinavia.
Today,
however,
the
Finns
rarely
accept
the
Nordic
Balance
concept.
The
purpose
of
this
article
is
to
examine:
-
the
theory
of
the
Nordic
Balance;
does
the
concept
meet
the
requirements
of
a
theory?
-
The
political
use
of
the
concept
in
Nor-
way,
Sweden
and
Finland;
the
descrip-
tive
and
normative
application
of
the
term
in
the
official
vocabularies
of
for-
eign
and
defence
policy
in
the
three
countries.
THE
THEORY
OF
THE
NORDIC
BALANCE
Central
Concepts
Arne
Olav
Brundtland
has
been
trying
to
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