The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy

PREFACEThe conference on the Nordic countries and ESDP that was held in Stockholmon 28–29 October 2004 was hosted by the SIIA and co-funded by SIPRIand the SNDC (the latter making use of financial support from the NordicSecurity Policy Programme). It benefited also from in-kind support from theSwedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and contributions from the Finnish andNorwegian embassies in Stockholm. The participants included representativesof practically every foreign policy, defence research and peace research instituteworking on Nordic soil, together with several interested nations and thinktanks outside the Nordic area. This book is built upon the papers delivered atthe conference, by speakers in three main thematic sessions and in a closingpanel, with some supplementary material designed (notably) to fill gaps in geographicalcoverage. It is constructed on the principle that each main topicshould, wherever feasible, be addressed by experts from two different countries.Over the book as a whole, an approximate balance has been maintainedbetween inputs from each of the four larger Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland,Norway and Sweden) and non-Nordic experts (from Germany, the UnitedKingdom and the USA) who have devoted themselves to the study of thisregion. Each of the book’s four thematic parts is introduced by remarks from arepresentative of one of the three co-responsible institutes, the introduction topart I being the most substantial in view of the smaller number of chapters inthat part.We hope that this volume will be of interest and value to many audiencesboth inside and outside the Nordic region: students and researchers, officialpolicy makers, parliamentarians and other political activists, the private businesssector, and the general public. We would like to express our joint thanks toall those who attended and helped to organize the initial conference; to allcontributors to the book; to Lise Tønnesland and Pál Dunay for research supportwithin SIPRI; and last but not least to SIPRI editors David Cruickshank,Connie Wall and Jetta Gilligan Borg, without whom this work could never havebeen completed.Alyson J. K. Bailes Gunilla Herolf Bengt SundeliusSIPRI SIIA SNDCStockholm, January 2006xiii