Abstract: Abstract Exploring the myth or reality of the powerless small state, this article offers a re-examination of Nordic internationalism by introducing the concepts of Nordic normative power and norm entrepreneurship. A discussion of Swedish norm advocacy within the UN provides an illustration of norm entrepreneurship as a contingent foreign policy approach for small states. By using norm entrepreneurship as a foreign policy strategy, small states may be able to 'punch above their weight' in international politics. Keywords: Nordic internationalismUnited NationsUN norm entrepreneurshipconflict preventionSweden Acknowledgements I thank the Nordic Council of Ministers for financial support, the working group on Nordic Peace Support Operations for valuable comments and criticism, and Michael Pugh and Eli Stamnes for insightful and constructive comments. Notes 1. Bo Huldt, 'Norden efter kalla kriget – finns det?' [Norden after the cold war – does it exist?], Leif Leifland, Bengt Sundelius, Krister Wahlbäck och Gunnar Wallin (eds.) Brobyggare. En vänbok till Nils Andrén [Bridge-builder. In Honour of Nils Andrén], Stockholm: Nerenius & Santérus Förlag, 1997, pp.119–36. 2. Lars-Göran Stenelo, Mediation in International Negotiations, Ma1 mö: Studentlitteratur, 1972; Stenelo, The International Critic: The impact of Swedish Criticism of the US involvement in Vietnam, Boulder: Westview Press, 1985; Magnus Jerneck, Kritik som utrikespolitiskt medel. En studie av de amerikanska reaktionerna på den svenska Vietnamkritiken [Criticism as a foreign policy tool. A study of the American reactions to the Swedish Vietnam criticism], Malmö: Dialogus, 1983; Ole Elgström, Aktiv Utrikespolitik. En jämförelse mellan svensk och dansk utrikesdebatt 1962–1978 [Active Foreign Policy. A comparison of Swedish and Danish Foreign Policy Debates 1962–1978], Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1982; Johan Jorgen Holst, Norwegian Foreign Policy in the 1980s, Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1985; Jan Egeland, Impotent Superpower Potent Small State, Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1988; Kjell Goldmann, The Logic of lnternationalism. Coercion and Accommodation, London: Routledge, 1994; Ulf Bjereld, Kritiker eller medlare? Sveriges utrikespolitiska roller 1945–1990 [Critic or mediator? Swedish foreign policy roles 1945–1990], Stockholm: Nerenius & Santérus Förlag, 1992. 3. More recent contributions are Andreas Andersson, 'United Nations Intervention by United Democracies? State Commitment to UN Interventions 1991–99', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.37, No.2, 2002, pp.363–86. Peter Viggo Jakobsen, Nordic Approaches to Peacekeeping Operations: A New Model, London: Routledge, 2006. 4. Katie Verlin Laatikaien, 'Norden's Eclipse: The Impact of the European Union's Foreign and Security Policy on the Nordic Group in the United Nations', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.38, No.4, 2003, pp.409–41. 5. Clive Archer, 'Conflict Prevention in Europe: The case of the Nordic States and Macedonia', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.29, No.4, 1994, pp.367–86; Archer, 'Still Nordic After All These Years: Nordic Security in the Post-Cold War Period', Security Dialogue, Vol.36, No.3, 2005, pp.397–401; Peter Lawler, 'Scandinavian Exceptionalism and European Union', Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol.35, No.4, 1997, pp.365–85; Annika Bergman, 'Adjacent Internationalism. The Concept of Solidarity and Post-Cold War Nordic-Baltic Relations', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.41, No.1, 2006, pp.73–97. 6. Pernille Rieker, 'Europeanization of Nordic Security: The European Union and the Changing Security Identities of the Nordic States', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.39, No.4, 2004, pp.369–87; Alison K. Bailes, Gunilla Herolf and Bengt Sundelius (eds). The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy, Oxford: Oxford University Press for Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2006. 7. Lene Hansen and Ole Weaver (eds), European Integration and National Identity: The Challenge of the Nordic States, London: Routledge, 2002. 8. Nina Græger, Henrik Larsen and Hanna Ojanen (eds), The ESDP and the Nordic Countries: Four Variations on a Theme. Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International Affairs (UPI)/Berlin: Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP), 2002. 9. Adrian Hyde-Price, 'Normative Power Europe: A Realist Critique', Journal of European Public Policy, Vol.13, No.2, 2006, pp.217–34; Robert Keohane, 'Review: Lilliputian's Dilemmas: Small States in International Politics', International Organization, Vol.23, No.2, 1969, pp.291–310. 10. See, for example, Annika Björkdahl, From Idea to Norm: Promoting Conflict Prevention, Lund: Lund University Press, 2002. 11. Ian Manners, 'Normative Power Europe: a contradiction in terms', Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol.40, No.1, 2002, pp.75–95; Manners, 'Normative Power Europe Reconsidered: Beyond the Cross-roads', Journal of European Public Policy, Vol.13, No.2, 2006, pp.182–99; Helena Sjursen, 'What kind of Power?' Journal of European Public Policy, Vol.13, No.2, 2006, pp.169–81. 12. Annika Björkdahl, 'Norm-maker and Norm-taker: Exploring the normative influence of the EU in Macedonia', European Foreign Affairs Review, Vol.10, No.2, 2005, pp.257–78. 13. See, for example Thomas Risse, Stephen C. Ropp and Kathryn Sikkink (eds.) The Power of Human Right: International Norms and Domestic Change, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999; Margareth Keck and Kathryn Sikkink, Activist Beyond Borders: Advocacy Network in International Politics, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998; Martha Finnemore and Kathryn Sikkink, 'International Norm Dynamics and Political Change', International Organization, Vol.52, No.4, 1998, pp.887–917. 14. Finnemore and Sikkink (see n.13 above), p.889. 15. Archer 1994 (see n.5 above), p.377. 16. Albert Yee, 'The Causal Effect of Ideas on Policies', International Organization, Vol.50, No.1, 1996, pp.69–108. 17. Sikkink, Ideas and Institutions: Developmentalism in Brazil and Argentina, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991, p.2. 18. Finnemore and Sikkink (see n.13 above), p.889. 19. See, e.g., William Wallace, Between Autonomy and Influence: Small States and the European Union, proceedings from ARENA annual Conference, 1998; Amy Gurowitz, 'Mobilizing International Norms: Domestic Actors, Immigrants and the Japanese state', World Politics, Vol.51, No.3, 1999, pp.413–45. 20. Finnemore, 'International Organizations as Teachers of Norms: The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and Science Policy', International Organization, Vol.47, No.4, 1993, pp.565–97; Michael Barnett, 'Partners in Peace? The UN, Regional Organizations and Peacekeeping', Review of International Studies, Vol.21, No.4, 1995, pp.411–33. 21. Christine Ingebritsen, Scandinavia in World Politics, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. 22. See, for example, Janie Leatherman, 'Conflict Transformation in the CSCE: Learning and Institutionalization', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.28, No.4, 1993, pp.403–31; Alexis Heraclides, Security and Cooperation in Europe: The Human Dimension 1972–1992, London: Frank Cass, 1993; David Lumsdaine, Moral Vision in International Politics, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993; Björkdahl (see n.12 above). 23. Björkdahl (see n.12 above); Ole Elgström, 'Norm Negotiations: The Construction of New Norms regarding gender and development in EU Foreign Aid Policy', Journal of European Public Policy, Vol.7, No.3, 2000, pp.457–476; Annica Kronsell, 'Can Small States Influence EU Norms? Insights from Sweden's Participation in the Field of Environmental Politics', Scandinavian Studies, Vol.74, No.3, 2002, pp.287–304; Christine Ingebritsen, 'Norm Entrepreneurs. Scandinavia's Role in World Politics', Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.37, No.1, 2002, pp.11–23. 24. Goldmann (see n.2 above); Lumsdaine (see n.22 above). 25. Erik Noréen, Brobygge eller blockbildning?: de norska och svenska utrikesledningarnas säkerhetspolitiska föreställningar 1945–1948 [Bridgebuilder or Bloc building?: The Norwegian and Swedish Foreign Policy Elites' Security Policy Perceptions] Stockholm: Carlsson 1994. 26. Nina Græger, 'Norway and the EU Security and Defence Dimension: A "troops-for-influence" Strategy', in Græger, Henrik Larsen and Hanna Ojanen (eds.) The ESDP and the Nordic Countries. Four Variations on a Theme, Helsinki: The Finnish Institute of International Affairs; Berlin: Institut für Europäische Politik, 2002, pp.33–89. 27. Ann-Sofie Nilsson, Den moraliska stormakten. En studie av socialdemokratins internationella activism [The Moral Super Power: A Study of Social Democratic Activism], Stockholm: Timbro. 1991. 28. Preventing Violent Conflict – A Swedish Policy for the 21st Century. Skr. 2000/01:2. Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Stockholm: Government Publisher. 29. Janne Haaland-Matlary, Soft Power – Hard Values? Intervention for Human Rights and Democracy in Europe, London: Palgrave, 2002. 30. Margaretha af Ugglas, Speech in the United Nations General Assembly debate, New York, 10 Oct. 1991. 31. Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, Preventing Deadly Conflict: Final Report, New York: Carnegie. 32. Preventing Violent Conflict – A Study. Ds 1997: 18. Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Stockholm: Norstedts Tryckeri. 33. Preventing Violent Conflict – A Swedish Action Plan. Ds 1999: 24. Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Stockholm: Norstedts Tryckeri. 34. Michael Lund. Preventing Violent Conflict: A Strategy for Preventive Diplomacy, Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996. 35. Archer 1994 (see n.5 above). 36. Björkdahl, 'Conflict Prevention from a Nordic Perspective: Putting Prevention into Practice', International Peacekeeping, Vol.6, No.3, 1999, pp.54–72. 37. Jeffrey Checkel, 'Social Learning and European Identity Change', International Organization, Vol.55, No.3, 2001, pp.553–88. 38. See, e.g., Margaretha af Ugglas, speech in the General Assembly debate, 28 Sept. 1993; Lena Hjelm- Wallén, speech in the Assembly debate, 11 Oct. 1994; Hjelm-Wallén, speech in the General Assembly debate, 28 Sept. 1995; Göran Persson, speech in the General Assembly debate, 25 Sept. 1996. 39. Author's interview with former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lena Hjelm-Wallén, Stockholm 5 Sept. 2001. 40. Hjelm-Wallén, speech in the General Assembly debates, 24 Sept. 1997, 23 Sept. 1998. 41. Anna Lindh, speech in the General Assembly debate, 21 Sept. 1999. 42. Checkel (see n.37 above), p.562. 43. Author's interview with diplomat of the Swedish Mission to the UN, Stockholm, 24 Jan. 2001. 44. Ibid.; Checkel (see n.37 above), p.562. 45. Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy – Perspectives for Development Cooperation, 1993. Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Prevention and Resolution of Violent Conflict in Developing Countries, policy paper draft, 1995. 46. Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, The Norwegian Campaign for Membership in the UN Security Council 2000–02 (www.norway-un.org|cgi-bin/wbch3.exe?p=2974). 47. Author's telephone interview with former Director, UN Department of Political Affairs, 8 Feb. 2002. 48. Archer 1994 (see n.5 above), p.380. 49. Author's interview with Jan Eliasson, Stockholm, 7 Feb. 2002. 50. The Group of Friends for Conflict Prevention consisted of Bangladesh, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Hungary, Jamaica, Japan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa and the UK. 51. Author's interview (see n.49 above). 52. Ugglas, speech in the General Assembly debate, 22 Sept. 1992; author's interview (see n.49 above). 53. Author's interview (see n.49 above). 54. Press release, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Stockholm, 7 Oct. 1996. 55. Author's interview (see n.43 above). 56. Sverige i Förenta Nationernas Säkerhetsråd [Sweden in the United Nations Security Council], 1997–98 UD:11:54, Stockholm: Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. United Nations Security Council Resolution (S/RES/1199) 23 Sept. 1998; Anders Lidén, speech in the Security Council, UN doc. S/PV.3868; UN Security Council resolution, UN Doc. S/RES/1160, 31 Mar. 1998. 57. Björkdahl (see n.36 above), p.62. 58. Statement by the President of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/PRST/1998/38, 29 Dec. 1998. 59. Author's interview with Hans Dahlgren, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Stockholm, 18 Oct. 2001. 60. Author's interview (see n.49 above). 61. Jan Eliasson, speech in the General Assembly, 29 Oct. 1997. 62. Sverige i Förenta Nationerna [Sweden in United Nations], Skr.1999/2000: 130, Stockholm: Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 63. Statement by the President of the Security Council, 30 Nov. 1999, UN Doc. S/PRST/1999/34; UN Security Council, UN Doc. SC/6761, 30 Nov. 1999. 64. Danilo Türk, Speech on Conflict Prevention at the Max van der Stoel Symposium, Lund, 4 Dec. 1999. 65. Author's telephone interview with former Director of Strategic Planning, Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General12 Feb. 2002; author's interview (see n.47 above). 66. Jeffrey Checkel, 'Norms Institutions and National Identity in Contemporary Europe', International Studies Quarterly, Vol.43, No.1, 1999, pp.83–114. 67. Report of the Secretary-General, Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform, UN Doc. A/51/950, 9 Dec. 1997. 68. 'Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the organization', UN Doc., A/54/1, 31 Aug. 1999; Report of the Secretary-General, The Millennium Report – We the peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century, UN Doc., A/54/2000, 3 Apr. 2000. 69. Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. A/55/985-S/2001/574, 7 Jun. 2001; author's interviews (see n.65 and 47 above). 70. Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the organization, UN Doc. A/56/1, 6 Sept. 2001. 71. Statement by the Presidency of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/PRST/ 1999/34, SC/6892, 30 Nov. 1999. 72. General Assembly resolution, UN Doc., A/RES/53/243, 6 Oct. 1999. 73. Author's interview (see n.47 above). 74. Security Council press release, UN Doc., SC/6892, 20 Jul. 2000. 75. Bernard Wood, Development Dimensions of Conflict Prevention and Peace Building: An Independent Study Prepared for the Emergence Response Division UNDP, 2001 (www.undp.org/erd/ref/undp_pb_study.pdf). 76. Derek Boothby and George D'Angelo, 'Building Capacity within the United Nations: Cooperation on the Prevention of Violent Conflict', in David Carment and Albrecht Schnabel (eds), Conflict Prevention: Path to Peace or Grand Illusion?, Tokyo: United Nations Press, 2001. 77. Jan Egeland, 'Preventive Diplomacy: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality', Balkan Forum, Vol.5, No.1 (18), 1997, pp.53–67 and (n.28 above). 78. David Carment and Albrecht Schnabel, 'Building Conflict Prevention Capacity: Methods, Experiences, Needs'. IDRC Working Paper No.5, Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2001.
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-08-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 58
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