The Karelian Question

• Published in: Cooperation and Conflict
• Main Author: JOENNIEMI, PERTTI
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 1998
• Subjects: karelian
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0010836798033002004; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0010836798033002004

The Karelian question shows signs of transforming from a divisive issue to a matter of cooperation. It seems to be shifting from a unresolved territorial issue involving the correction of borders towards a resource with strong European and integration-oriented connotations. The traditional statist stances are still to some extent there, but have become less distinct as more space has been provided for various `low policy' initiatives that reach across borders. It hence appears that the territorial determinants of political processes and social life are declining in importance in the case of the ceded Karelia, thereby promoting a return of the Karelian question in a manner beyond restitution and an adjustment of statist borders.