Territorial Disarmament in Northern Europe: The Epilogue of a Success Story?

This Policy Paper begins by examining in depth the legal meaning and strategic rationale of the whole range of national and interstate measures that may be summed up as 'territorial disarmament'.

Chillaud shows how different Nordic states and territories have acquired their various special statuses by stages through history and brings out the complex motivations involved that often relate not just to external security, but also to feelings about identity and domestic governance. The last chapter turns to current strategic politics and raises some pertinent questions worthy of further research about whether the Nordic penchant for 'separation' will and should survive in the face of the continuing shift of European security challenges and priorities towards dimensions that are either transnational (like terrorist threats and epidemics) or entirely non-territorial.