“In Practice, It Just Happens”: 1: How the Nordics Work Together Within Peace and Conflict Resolution

The chapter examines what peace looks like from the working levels of the Nordic countries. Several researchers have proclaimed a common Nordic approach to peace and conflict resolution “dead”. However, through interviews focusing on the working level, we find that the Nordics in fact work very closely together in practice, especially in the field in conflict-affected areas. This work is generally driven by pragmatic like-mindedness and practical solutions. We create a typology of three different types and degrees of working together: coordination, as the least integrated approach, primarily involving information sharing and trust building; cooperation, as a more ritualized, yet still politically non-committal form of working together; and collaboration, as a more regular, integrated and in some cases more binding approach, where joint analysis leads to joint solutions. We find that in fact, although the openness to formalizing cooperation is limited, there is a growing appetite among the Nordics for working together, both due to its practical benefits, but also due to geopolitical shifts in the Nordic neighborhood and the increasing pushback against multilateralism and international norms globally. We further discuss challenges to Nordic collaboration on peace and security and discuss prospects for further collaboration in the changing world order.