Livet i hegemonens skygge - en småstats sikkerhetslogikk

Abstract

The security policies of small states after the Cold War have not been a central area of research. The security logic of the European small states covered by this study depends heavily on the geopolitical settings and threat perceptions of these states. For some countries, mostly in southern and western Europe, “wider security” is the main concern, for others, especially in the neighbourhood of Russia, more traditional security thinking is more prevalent. For the latter states membership of NATO and, to some degree, the EU, are still vital to their security thinking. A viable NATO, however, is dependent of NATO being seen as important to US security. NATO will not be the central security institution it was, and to some degree still is. Participation in NATO operations as part of the “war on terror”, a war that is of top priority for US security, is therefore seen more as a means for small states to foster their own national security agenda, than as countering a threat to international security. In ‘fulfilling their obligations’ in this area they hope for US goodwill and assistance when threatened themselves. This, however, is not widely publicised because it might damage NATO-Russia cooperation both in the war on terror and in other area. The same logic also applies to non-NATO members’ participation in NATO operations.