The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States
Nordic governments frequently broadcast their ambition to do more together on the international stage. The five Nordic states (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway) also share many basic goals as foreign policy actors, including a steadfast and vocal commitment to safeguarding the ‘rules-bas...
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ftnupi:oai:nupi.brage.unit.no:11250/2689025 2023-05-15T16:51:22+02:00 The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States Haugevik, Kristin M. Sending, Ole Jacob 2020-11-23T10:04:27Z application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2689025 https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i4.3380 eng eng Norges forskningsråd: 250419 Norges forskningsråd: 287131 urn:issn:2183-2463 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2689025 https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i4.3380 cristin:1835111 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no CC-BY 8 Politics and Governance 4 Peer reviewed Journal article 2020 ftnupi https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i4.3380 2022-10-13T05:49:53Z Nordic governments frequently broadcast their ambition to do more together on the international stage. The five Nordic states (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway) also share many basic goals as foreign policy actors, including a steadfast and vocal commitment to safeguarding the ‘rules-based international order.’ Why then, do we not see more organized Nordic foreign policy collaboration, for example in the form of a joint ‘grand strategy’ on core foreign policy issues, or in relation to great powers and international organizations? In this article, we draw on Charles Tilly’s concept of ‘repertoires’ to address the discrepancy between ambitions and developments in Nordic foreign policy cooperation, highlighting how the bundles of policy instruments—repertoires—that each Nordic state has developed over time take on an identity-defining quality. We argue that the Nordic states have invested in and become attached to their foreign policy differences, niches, and ‘brands.’ On the international scene, and especially when interacting with significant other states, they tend not only to stick to what they know how to do and are accustomed to doing but also to promote their national rather than their Nordic profile. While Nordic cooperation forms part of all the five states’ foreign policy repertoire in specific policy areas, these are marginal compared to the distinctive repertoires on which each Nordic state rely in relation to more powerful states. It is therefore unlikely that we will see a ‘common order’ among the Nordic states in the foreign policy domain in the near future. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Norwegian Institute of international affairs: NUPI Research Online (Brage) Norway Politics and Governance 8 4 110 119 |
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Norwegian Institute of international affairs: NUPI Research Online (Brage) |
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ftnupi |
language |
English |
description |
Nordic governments frequently broadcast their ambition to do more together on the international stage. The five Nordic states (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway) also share many basic goals as foreign policy actors, including a steadfast and vocal commitment to safeguarding the ‘rules-based international order.’ Why then, do we not see more organized Nordic foreign policy collaboration, for example in the form of a joint ‘grand strategy’ on core foreign policy issues, or in relation to great powers and international organizations? In this article, we draw on Charles Tilly’s concept of ‘repertoires’ to address the discrepancy between ambitions and developments in Nordic foreign policy cooperation, highlighting how the bundles of policy instruments—repertoires—that each Nordic state has developed over time take on an identity-defining quality. We argue that the Nordic states have invested in and become attached to their foreign policy differences, niches, and ‘brands.’ On the international scene, and especially when interacting with significant other states, they tend not only to stick to what they know how to do and are accustomed to doing but also to promote their national rather than their Nordic profile. While Nordic cooperation forms part of all the five states’ foreign policy repertoire in specific policy areas, these are marginal compared to the distinctive repertoires on which each Nordic state rely in relation to more powerful states. It is therefore unlikely that we will see a ‘common order’ among the Nordic states in the foreign policy domain in the near future. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Haugevik, Kristin M. Sending, Ole Jacob |
spellingShingle |
Haugevik, Kristin M. Sending, Ole Jacob The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States |
author_facet |
Haugevik, Kristin M. Sending, Ole Jacob |
author_sort |
Haugevik, Kristin M. |
title |
The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States |
title_short |
The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States |
title_full |
The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States |
title_fullStr |
The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Nordic Balance Revisited: Differentiation and the Foreign Policy Repertoires of the Nordic States |
title_sort |
nordic balance revisited: differentiation and the foreign policy repertoires of the nordic states |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2689025 https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i4.3380 |
geographic |
Norway |
geographic_facet |
Norway |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
8 Politics and Governance 4 |
op_relation |
Norges forskningsråd: 250419 Norges forskningsråd: 287131 urn:issn:2183-2463 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2689025 https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i4.3380 cristin:1835111 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17645/pag.v8i4.3380 |
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Politics and Governance |
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8 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
110 |
op_container_end_page |
119 |
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