Nordic Perspectives on Russia
This special issue of Nordisk Østforum deals with the Nordic countries’ relations with Russia. Articles by experts in the field show that Russia constitutes a so-called “significant other”, and thus an important point of reference for the Nordic countries’ self-images and the outline of their policies. The aim of this introductory article is to place these contributions in a wider theoretical context. An interesting observation is that appraisals of Russian domestic politics appear to have just as serious consequences for the attitude of the Nordic countries vis-à-vis Russia as Russia’s behaviour at the international level. The article shows how a deteriorating image of the Russian “other” has contributed to increasingly tense international relations in the Baltic Sea region. The emergence of a so-called “security community” seems to belong in a distant future.
Keywords: democracy, energy, Nordic countries, Russia, security community