New Report Examines Nordic Cooperation in Multilateral Diplomacy

Nordic multilateral cooperation represents one of the oldest and most traditional forms of regional cooperation in Europe. This paper examines the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, the two principal regional organizations comprised of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. As the global architecture of multilateral diplomacy is in transition, a comprehensive understanding of the new dynamics, players, and capacities is needed.

The Nordic Council comprises the five Nordic countries (often referred to as “Norden”)—Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as their autonomous regions, the Faroe Islands (Denmark), Greenland (Denmark), and the Åland Islands (Finland).

 

Over the past few years, Nordic cooperation has regained strength and impact and redefined its position within the wider landscape of cooperation in the region and more broadly in Europe. In order to keep this up, the search for new legitimacy and the need to adapt to external changes will have to continue.

About the author

Tobias Etzold is associate and project leader of the Nordic and Baltic Sea Region Studies program at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

About this series

This paper is part of the Mapping Multilateralism in Transition series, which features short briefing papers on established but evolving regional organizations and select crossregional organizations.

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