ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the assumption that the East-West conflict is the most important condition for the security of the Nordic countries. The impact of the oil crisis on the economic well-being of the industrial societies has illustrated the vulnerability of the North, especially if confronted with actions directed against them from resource-rich countries in the South. The Nordic countries, traditionally striving for neutrality, had been brought closely into the security systems of the predominant powers in Europe. As an explanatory model the Nordic balance is supposed to explain both the presence and the behavior of the superpowers in northern Europe and, also, some security related aspects of the mutual relations of the Nordic countries. As long as the international system is dominated by the superpower relations, the viability of the Nordic balance depends primarily on superpower reactions in the respects.
