The Baltic Sea Region and the Cold War

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-136
Author(s):  
Tiziana Melchiorre

This article investigates how the geopolitical interests of states in the Baltic Sea region have determined the emergence and the development of environmental cooperation around the Baltic Sea since the late 1970s. It is shown that the Nordic and the Baltic countries have played a key role in this process and that other actorsm such as the European Union and the United States, also influence environmental cooperation because their geopolitical interests contribute to shape the cooperative links in the region. The United Nations with its legislation and its policies reinforces cooperation in the field. It is also argued that the case of environment around the Baltic Sea is one of the rare successful attempts to establish closer links among states in a particular issue area during the Cold War in Europe. Spanish Este artículo investiga cómo los intereses geopolíticos de los estados de la región del Mar Báltico han determinado la aparición y el desarrollo de la cooperación medioambiental en torno al Mar Báltico desde finales de la década de los setenta. El artículo muestra que tanto los países nórdicos como los países bálticos han jugado un papel clave en este proceso, así como otros actores, entre ellos la Unión Europea y los Estados Unidos, los cuales han influido también en esta cooperación ambiental debido a que sus intereses geopolíticos contribuyeron a dar forma a los vínculos de cooperación en la región. Las Naciones Unidas, a través de su legislación y sus políticas, refuerzan la cooperación en este campo. También se argumenta que el caso de la cooperación medioambiental en el Mar Báltico es uno de los pocos intentos exitosos para establecer relaciones más estrechas entre los estados en un área particular durante la Guerra Fría en Europa. French L'article analyse la naissance et le développement de la coopération dans le domaine de l'environnement sous l'influence des intérêts géopolitiques des États dans la région de la Mer Baltique à partir des années 1970. Les pays nordiques et le pays baltes ont joué un rôle fondamental dans ce processus ainsi que l'UE et les États-Unis dont les intérêts géopolitiques contribuent à former la coopération régionale. Les Nations Unies renforcent la coopération dans ce domaine grâce à leur législation et à leurs politiques. Ce cas de coopération dans le domaine de l'environnement constitue une des rares tentatives réussies pour établir des liens étroits entre les États durant la période de la Guerre Froide en Europe.


Author(s):  
Rikard Bengtsson

Swedish policy towards the Baltic Sea region in the post-Cold-War period reflects an internationalist approach aimed at institutionalizing regional cooperative mechanisms, along with a generic interest in managing relations with Russia. The Baltic region is of significant strategic interest to Sweden. From a strategic foreign policy perspective, the institutions-based approach to regional cooperation can be viewed as a formula for Sweden to multilateralize relations with Russia while simultaneously reaping economic and security benefits that stem from regional and European-level interdependencies. The roles that follow from this approach—as regional integrator and as normative critic of Russia—are increasingly enacted through European channels, primarily the EU.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-166
Author(s):  
Mihai Sebastian Chihaia

After the end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the USSR, the international system changed, becoming a unipolar one. Not only did this fact bring a diffusion of power and the reaffirmation of smaller actors/regional powers, the enlargement of several international organizations such as NATO and the EU, but also prompted regional transition and integration. This paper will focus on two regions that are fundamental in the security environment of Europe and its neighborhood: the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. Both areas suffered important changes after 1990. Furthermore, the areas mentioned have been a rendezvous point for several elements such as the shifting balance of power, political ambitions of smaller states, transit point for global trade routes (Scandinavia, Baltics and the Black Sea) and energy security issues. The article will take into account the concerns of the actors, outlining their security challenges and vulnerabilities as well as identifying similarities between countries from the two regions addressed. The comparison will further address the issues the regions faced after the end of the Cold War such as the emergence of new countries, political and economic transition with emphasis on cooperation initiatives and integration in NATO and EU. The main aim of the article will be to frame the similarities and differences of the political and security environment of the two regions. The structure of the paper goes as follows. I will start by laying out a theoretical framework centred upon the concept of security and what it involves and after that I will introduce and define the two regions discussed in the article, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea areas and outline the context each of them faced after the end of the Cold War. The next section will address the threats to the stability of the regions, creating the frame for the last part of the article which will make a comparison between the Baltic and the Black Sea areas.


Rural History ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-134
Author(s):  
Marjatta Rahikainen

Abstract This article discusses the received image of free Swedish and Finnish peasants, charting parallels with peasants in the Baltic region. It draws upon the post-Cold War discussion of free and unfree rural labour in early modern Europe. The discussion maintains that the labour service by free Swedish and Finnish peasant landholders and peasant tenants at its heaviest point may have been on a par with the corvée in the early modern Baltic provinces. It is suggested that the Cold War mental map may have led to an overstatement of the East-West distinction between peasants’ circumstances in the Baltic Sea region.


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