Stability and Security in the Baltic Sea Region by Olav Fagelund Knudsen

Author:Olav Fagelund Knudsen [Knudsen, Olav Fagelund]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780714649320
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 1999-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

The Baltic Region from the Perspective of Swedish Activism

Since it was first begun in a modern fashion in the 1960s as a result of the direct involvement and passionate engagement of then still-to-be Prime Minister Olof Palme, Swedish activism has primarily been directed at issues and arenas far from the Nordic region. With the notable exception of initiatives for nuclear-free zones in Europe, the activist perspective was mostly applied to Third World areas and problems. An extensive development aid programme, efforts and offers to mediate regional conflicts in Africa and Latin America, and disarmament proposals, were the main ingredients of Swedish activist policy performed through the Nonaligned Movement, multilaterally through the UN, or individually as a country. The activist ambitions of this small and nonaligned country had thus a decisively global perspective (Nilsson, 1991).

As the bipolar system disappeared almost overnight with the demise of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the Swedish activist policy, based on an independent role between the competing blocs, immediately suffered. With only one surviving superpower – the introduction of a unipolar system – the claim to represent an ideological and economic ‘Third Way’ lost most, if not all, credibility, as did any attempts to continue a ‘neutral’ line of policy. ‘Neutral between what?’ critics repeatedly asked, gaining further support as Sweden definitely confirmed its position in the Western camp by joining the European Union in 1995.

At that point, the entire direction of Swedish policy had once and seemingly for all time moved away from far-away continents and conflicts. Instead, attention was turned towards Europe, where Sweden was now a proud – if, from the perspective of the popular view, at times somewhat reluctant – partner, and to the regional neighbourhood where instability on the eastern part of the Baltic had been on the rise since the end of the Cold War. The first few years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall may be characterized as the ‘European’ years in Swedish politics, a period when close to every part of the political process was somehow adjusted to the expected membership in the European Union. Interest in the Baltic region was already substantial before the actual demise of the Soviet Union but escalated from the mid-1990s onwards, coinciding more or less with the entrance into the Union (which apparently lost its attraction to the Swedish population once membership was gained).

Relatively little attention has since been paid to European matters; only when criticized – as it is quite frequently – does the EU make an appearance now in the Swedish media and debate. One telling example was the very scarce coverage received on questions related to the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference – the ‘Maastricht II’ process – and the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The Swedish approach to the IGC was criticized for lacking preparedness and engagement (for example in Sydsvenska Dagbladet, 23 January 1997). Yet another reason for complaint among Sweden's partners on the continent surfaced when the government (following a debate within the Social

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