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There have been three other Nordic cooperation efforts, on the military side. The first was in 1948 (IIRC) when Sweden tried to create a Nordic military alliance. For obvious reasons, including the way Sweden gave Finland unofficial military guarantees during the 30's just to abandon them when push came to shove, this came to naught.

During the Cold War there were plenty of secret military cooperation between the Nordic countries, which I won't delve deeper into here, beyond noting that a free and independent Sweden was crucial for the security of Norway, just as a free and indepent Finland (and Baltic states) are crucial for the security of Sweden. And obviously, a free and independent Norway is crucial for the security of the Atlantic convoys in WWIII, and hence crucial for the security of West Germany. Anyway, many crucials there.

The third bout of military cooperation has begun in the last few years. Let me quote from that article in TWS:

Sweden is presently the driving force behind the Nordic Cooperation movement, an attempt to develop an integrated defense and industrial policy covering Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Baltic States. This has picked up significant momentum in the last few years, in part because of the experience of the Nordic Battle Group, in part because of the recognition that these technologically advanced but sparsely populated countries cannot afford to field large forces individually, and finally, because of the recent rumblings of the Russian bear. Already the Nordic Cooperation group is engaged in joint system development and procurement, joint planning and exercises, and is moving towards some degree of specialization and division of labor in defense tasks.

Denmark is also taking some part in this.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Fri Mar 21st, 2008 at 06:33:11 AM EST
I mentioned in passing the Nordic military union in my diary on the Nordic Council. But yeah, in hindsight it may have been pretty much a stillborn project (perhaps not so much due to a sense of abandonment among the Finns, but more due to its emerging "special" relationship with the Soviet Union).

Cooperation with the Baltic states ought to be encouraged, not just on defense matters (and I wouldn't put too much stock in any threat the Russian bear supposedly pose, at any rate). Estonia in particular seems rather keen on closer ties with the Nordic countries. The current president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, even gave a speech entitled "Estonia as a Nordic country". Now, if only we could get the Nordic countries to agree with that sentiment...  

All that said, The Weekly Standard!?!?!

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde

by NordicStorm (m<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Fri Mar 21st, 2008 at 06:55:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, yes, I know. I don't read the paper, but I was linked to it from a blog I read. It's a very good article in spite of being in the TWS.

And the article connects to another thing too, namely the fact that I wouldn't be suprised if a big part of the Swedish enthusiasm for this is based on the chance of selling 48 Gripens each to Norway and Denmark, and eventually also to Finland. After all, a key area in the cooperation is joint procurement. And as Sweden buys a dispropotionate amount of Swedish gear, everyone else will also have to do that (though they already do that to some degree). ;) Sure, the other Nordic countries have arms industries too, but not at all as big part of their economy is there.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid on Fri Mar 21st, 2008 at 07:34:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It's an interesting and informative article (its origin notwithstanding), though its biases shine through in some places. Characterising Finland as a mere Soviet satellite state, as the article does, is a gross oversimplification at best or an outright falsehood at worst. The author is perhaps a bit too stuck in a Cold War frame of how things are.
But anyway, to get to the nutmeat of the article, the economic perspective. That drives a lot of cooperation (yes, there's that word again!) in the Nordic countries, more so than some romantic ideals of "brother nations". Sheer pragmatism, really.

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde
by NordicStorm (m<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Fri Mar 21st, 2008 at 08:01:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I do not think Finland was that much of an issue as the defense union was supposed to include Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Paragraph from swedish wikipedia to support that:

Norden - Wikipedia, den fria encyklopedin

Under tiden efter andra världskriget utvecklades det moderna politiska nordiska samarbetet. Från svenskt håll föreslogs direkt efter andra världskriget att Sverige, Danmark och Norge skulle bilda ett försvarsförbund. Den 15 oktober utsågs i Oslo en skandinavisk försvarskommitté och under 1949 undertecknades kommitténs betänkande. Detta misslyckades, och Danmark och Norge gick med i NATO medan Sverige förblev neutralt. År 1952 grundades Nordiska rådet med syfte att öka samarbetet i Norden i kulturella, politiska, juridiska och sociala frågor. Sedan Finland anslöt sig 1955 uteslöts ända till 1990-talet utrikespolitiken från Nordiska rådets diskussioner. Detta berodde på att Finland hade ett samarbetsavtal som hette VSB med Sovjetunionen. De viktigaste framstegen var de första projekt som genomfördes: nordiska passunionen och den gemensamma nordiska arbetsmarknaden, vilka infördes 1954.


Sweden's finest (and perhaps only) collaborative, leftist e-newspaper Synapze.se
by A swedish kind of death on Fri Mar 21st, 2008 at 02:22:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah, I'm probably getting my history all garbled up there. My bad. Let's blame it on a lifetime of alcohol abuse (it's all true, except the part about the lifetime of alcohol abuse).

At any rate, a Nordic military alliance was a no-go for Finland...

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde

by NordicStorm (m<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Fri Mar 21st, 2008 at 05:04:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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