Reaching a vanishing point? Reflections on the future of neutrality norms in Sweden and Finland

Abstract

This rejoinder article takes the contributions in the Special Issue of Cooperation and Conflict – Vol. 46(3) – on Neutrality and ‘Military Non-Alignment’ as point of departure for a discussion of some of the problems former neutrals face in shaping their foreign and security policies. The author argues that current and future developments regarding neutrality norms are dependent on internal factors such as national identity and public opinion, and on external factors such as the military non-aligned states’ relationships to EU, NATO and, not least, the UN. The possibility of a ‘Second Option’ of full-scale military cooperation if a preferred neutral position fails is discussed. Increased UN activism, for example, connected with the R2P concept and the tendency to outsource major UN-mandated military operations to NATO, is touched upon as well as the Libya crisis of 2011 and some of its implications for European foreign and security policy cooperation. Special attention is given to current Swedish debates on military non-alignment and NATO membership.