How should the countries in the Baltic Sea region and their allies meet the strategic challenges posed by an openly aggressive and expansionist Russia? NATO and the nonaligned states in the region are now more concerned about an external threat than they have been since the end of the Cold War. Russia has been probing air space, maritime boundaries, and even land borders from the Baltic republics to Sweden. Russia's undermining of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea worries former Soviet republics with Russian minority populations, nonaligned Sweden and Finland are enhancing their cooperation with NATO, and the Trump presidency has created some doubt about America's willingness to follow through on NATO's collective defense commitment. Ann-Sofie Dahl brings together an international group of experts to examine Baltic security issues on a state-by-state basis and to contemplate what is needed to deter Russia in the region. The contributors analyze ways to strengthen regional cooperation, and to ensure that security in the region stays at the top of the agenda at a time of many competing strategic perspectives in the transatlantic community. This book will be of great interest to foreign policy and defense practitioners in the US and Europe as well as scholars and students of international relations.

This book explores the role of the European Union (EU) in the cooperation and regulation of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR), from both an institutional and substantive perspective. It particularly focuses on the role of the Union in advancing the broader marine governance framework in the region. Questions investigated include: in what way does the Union participate in, or otherwise influence, the activities of States, international organisations and other actors involved in BSR cooperation and regulation, and what is the importance and substantive outcome of the Union's specific role in this respect? How has the membership of eight out of nine Baltic Sea coastal States in the EU affected cooperation in the region, in terms of substance as well as procedure, and what is the influence of the BSR over the EU? These questions are discussed from different perspectives by leading experts in both the fields of EU law and the law of the BSR.

Negotiations in the European Union Council of Ministers are not only taking place within formal decision-making structures. Member states strive to find allies and coordinate their positions prior to formal negotiation meetings. They either create ad hoc coalitions to pool voting power or cooperate within more durable, institutionalised coalitions that traditionally form due to geographical proximity or among like-minded member states as task-specific coalitions on particular issues. Institutionalised coalitions bestow their members with a bargaining advantage even if they cannot generate enough voting weight to reach voting thresholds.

This book focuses on the recent political trajectories within the Baltic Sea Region from one of the success stories of regionalism in Europe to a potential area of military confrontation between Russia and NATO. The authors closely examine the following issues: new security challenges for the region stemming from Russia’s staunch anti-EU and anti-NATO polices, institutions and practices of multi-level governance in the region, and different cultural strategies that regional actors employ. The common threads of this innovative volume are issues of changing borders and boundaries in the region, and logics of inclusion and exclusion that shape its political contours. From diverse disciplinary and methodological positions the authors explain policies of specific Baltic Sea states, as well as structural matters that make them a region.

This book critically analyses the changing EU-Russian security environment in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, with a particular focus on northern Europe where the EU and the Russian Federation share a common border. Russian involvement in conflict situations in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood has drastically impacted the European security environment, leading to a resurgence of competitive great power relations. The book uses the EU-Russia interface at the borders of Finland and the European North as a prism through which interwoven external and internal security challenges can be explored. Security is considered in the broadest sense of the term, as the authors consider how the security environment is reflected politically, socially and culturally within European societies. The book analyses changing political language and concepts, institutional preparedness, border governance, human security, migration and wider challenges to societal resilience. Ultimately, the book investigates into Finland’s preparedness to address new global security challenges and to find solutions to them on an everyday level. This book will be an important guide for researchers and upper-level students of security, border studies, Russian and European studies, as well as to policy makers looking to develop a wider, contextualized understanding of the challenges to stability and security in different parts of Europe.

Spaces and Projects of National Importance (SAPONI) are not only important for the respective spatial areas, they are also in the interest of the entire nation, and, sometimes of European interest as well. Over a three years period a series of different symposia with high-level spatial planners from all over Europe had been focusing on these strategic spaces and projects. The book sums up the findings of these issues which can have "far-reaching consequences and chances that could be used or they could be lost" like the leader of the workshop-series, Prof. Bernd Scholl, points out.

All countries in the Baltic Sea Region face a growing lack of skilled work force. However, the large potential of a better inclusion of females and elderly employees and managers remains often untapped. Also female and elderly employees can increase the innovation level of a company. This publication provides strategies how to better include this important group in companies. It was developed as part of the flagship project of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region “Innovative SMEs by Gender and Age (QUICK-IGA)”. The project addresses the following objectives: - levelling of equal opportunities for women south of the Baltic Sea with the ones of northern countries; - strengthening the promotion of innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises by developing working cultures that explicitly improve the equal opportunities of women; - supporting regional development in order to optimally develop human capital and competitiveness through gender and education policy. The manual containing all the project results and additional tools for the management of demographic change at enterprise level. Part I of the book incorporates the strategy programme on "Age, Gender and Innovation: Policies and Strategies to Improve Employability and Work Ability of Women and Older People in the Baltic Sea Region”, whilst part II contains action plans for the Hanse Parlament (network of business chambers) and the Baltic Sea Academy (network of academic institutions) “Promoting the employment of women and older people”.

The Energy Trilemma in the Baltic Sea Region provides insight into the energy trilemma in the Baltic Sea Region. Energy Trilemma in the Baltic Sea Region has undergone significant transformation in the last number of years. Energy actors in the region are struggling to reconcile new questions of energy security following the COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine with net-zero objectives and a cost-of-living crisis. Balancing these concerns is essential to resolving the “energy trilemma”: the dilemma that emerges for policy-makers and regulators seeking to balance energy security, equity, and environmental concerns in pursuit of a wholly sustainable energy system. This volume draws together a range of perspectives from scholars of the Baltic Sea Region seeking to understand the manifestations and impact of these systemic regional changes. In considering previously underexamined studies on the energy trilemma and in providing new perspectives by framing the trilemma in times of crisis, this book provides new conceptual and empirical insight into a rapidly changing energy region at the heart of both European energy policy and the current energy crisis. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy politics, energy law and policy, energy transitions, and Baltic studies more broadly.

This book formulates a conceptual framework to analyse the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. It examines the strategies of the Baltic states and the attitudes of the societies of the Baltic Sea basin, directed not only towards limiting the consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian war but also towards restoring peace and ensuring future security in the region. It assesses the Baltic states during and after the conflict, discussing the problem of managing a coherent policy towards Russia and Ukraine, the challenges faced by states during and after the conflict, analysing the attitudes of societies and their evolution during and after the conflict. The volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers of European studies and war, international relations, political science, peace and conflict studies.

This publication gives an overview of the current state and development potential of the Baltic Sea Region and proposes a concrete strategy programme for innovation in regional policies. One prerequisites is a strong cooperation between the regions and states, but also the promotion of regional competition while preserving and strengthening the specific regional cultures around the Mare Balticum. For a competitive Baltic Sea Region, it is also essential that the regional policy supports the innovation in the small- and medium sized enterprises, since 99,8 % of all companies are SMEs and thus the economic and social backbone. A creation of real knowledge-alliances between universities, public administrations and businesses is highly recommended. These political strategies are the result of intensive discussions and experiences of a three year running project with 40 partners from 11 countries around the Baltic Sea Region, called BSR QUICK. They are adopted and recommended by the 47 Members of the Hanse Parlament and 16 Members of the Baltic Sea Academy. The book contains the identical text of approx. 55 pages in English, German and Polish. The book concentrates on - Cooperation and integration - Regional competition and fiscal equalization - Equivalent living conditions and functional division of labor - Independent cultures and regional self-esteem - Endogenous potentials and smart specialization - Regional economic cycles and intense range development - Small and medium-sized enterprises and networks - Innovation and knowledge partnerships Decentralization and autonomy