HauptbeschreibungThe current relationship between the Nordic countries and the European Union appears complex and confusing. Although Denmark, in 1973, and Sweden and Finland, in 1995, joined the European Union, the entry of Norway into the Union was rejected in the plebiscites of 1972 and 1994. Furthermore, Nordic EU members enjoy permanent exceptions to their integration into the EU: Denmark and Sweden, like the U.K., have declined to become part of the monetary union. Finland is essentially the only Nordic country that entered the EU without substantial exceptions. A membership bid from Iceland was unthinkable; after the fi nancial crisis - which is not the topic of this book - Iceland applied for membership in 2010 and has been in discussions with the European Commission ever since. In other words: the European Union divides Nordic societies, which has resulted in a series of national exceptions to the integration process. Taken together, these exceptions have created an integration process whose overall geometry is contradictory and paradoxical. Considering this melange, this book will discuss the actual state of Nordic integration into the EU from many different perspectives and illuminate future developments in the fi eld of integration. Where is the North relative to Europe today? How can the geometry of Northern Europe's integration, developed over a long time, be characterised? What are the challenges that threaten further development of Nordic-European relationships?

Originally published in 2005. This comprehensive volume examines the issue of Europe-making related to the post EU/NATO enlargement and the post 9/11 situation. Dual enlargement and the War on Terrorism are raising important questions for various actors in Europe, in particular what these developments will mean for the future of regional cooperation and the development of a regional subjectivity. Such concerns have been further compounded by America's distinction between 'New Europe' and 'Old Europe'. The volume analyzes at both policy and conceptual levels how the dual enlargement and the War on Terrorism will impact on regional cooperation in northern Europe. It examines how events in northern Europe have helped shape the nature of European space, borders and governance, including how the EU, the US and Russia have each highlighted northern Europe as a special case to be utilized and learnt from in dealing with problems elsewhere in Europe and globally. Presenting original articles, the volume will appeal to scholars of regional politics as well as security, international relations theory and geopolitics.

This book is the first comprehensive study of how and why the European Union has enlarged to become northern Europe’s leading power. Pami Aalto presents a new approach to the under-theorized field of EU foreign policy studies, showing how, since 1990, the EU has enlarged to include Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, and also incorporated the former East Germany. He also examines how this northern expansion has led the EU to reflect on relations with Russia and its north-western regions. This unique study includes: a fresh approach to the under-theorized field of EU foreign policy key empirical material, including hundreds of documents, interviews and field experiments in-depth case studies of relations between the EU, Nordic states, Baltic states and Russia with its north-western regions. This is essential reading for all students of European politics, Russian studies and international relations.

Rethinking Europe's Future is a major reevaluation of Europe's prospects as it enters the twenty-first century. David Calleo has written a book worthy of the complexity and grandeur of the challenges Europe now faces. Summoning the insights of history, political economy, and philosophy, he explains why Europe was for a long time the world's greatest problem and how the Cold War's bipolar partition brought stability of a sort. Without the Cold War, Europe risks revisiting its more traditional history. With so many contingent factors--in particular Russia and Europe's Muslim neighbors--no one, Calleo believes, can pretend to predict the future with assurance. Calleo's book ponders how to think about this future. The book begins by considering the rival ''lessons'' and trends that emerge from Europe's deeper past. It goes on to discuss the theories for managing the traditional state system, the transition from autocratic states to communitarian nation states, the enduring strength of nation states, and their uneasy relationship with capitalism. Calleo next focuses on the Cold War's dynamic legacies for Europe--an Atlantic Alliance, a European Union, and a global economy. These three systems now compete to define the future. The book's third and major section examines how Europe has tried to meet the present challenges of Russian weakness and German reunification. Succeeding chapters focus on Maastricht and the Euro, on the impact of globalization on Europeanization, and on the EU's unfinished business--expanding into ''Pan Europe,'' adapting a hybrid constitution, and creating a new security system. Calleo presents three models of a new Europe--each proposing a different relationship with the U.S. and Russia. A final chapter probes how a strong European Union might affect the world and the prospects for American hegemony. This is a beautifully written book that offers rich insight into a critical moment in our history, whose outcome will shape the world long after our time.

This book examines the role of collective memory in the origins and development of the European Union. It traces Europe's political, economic and financial crisis to the loss of these memories of the rupture of 1945. In order to survive the EU will have to prove that it can act effectively in the face of future challenges.

The Arctic has often been seen as a natural area, or even a “wilderness”, where mainly indigenous and subsistence activities have been prominent. Contrary to this, the present volume highlights the very long historical development of resource use systems in northern Europe, across multiple actors and multiple levels, and including varying population groups. The book takes a past-present-future perspective that illustrates the paths to institutional emergence, change or persistence over time. It also illustrates how institutions may themselves drive changes, through a focus on resource use cases in northern Europe. This volume demonstrates that understanding “northern” issues is less about understanding sets of geophysical, climatological or environmental conditions than about understanding social and institutional structures. Understanding these trajectories into the future is seen as a key way of understanding what responses to future change may be likely and what the institutions are that will shape, limit or enable our responses to climate change. This book will be of great use to scholars and graduates in the fields of Arctic and northern-region politics, and to researchers of resource use and climate change with a focus on vulnerability, social vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation.