ABSTRACT
This chapter applies the threat politics approach to the case of the Baltic Sea Business Summit (BSBS), with particular emphasis on threat politics at the intergovernmental level. The BSBS claims that the Baltic Sea region has a considerable potential for economic growth, but that there is a serious risk that this will be jeopardised if companies and politicians do not show strong leadership. The chapter provides an overview of two fields of research, which are of particular relevance for an analysis of transnational business and threat politics. The first of these concerns theories of international political economy and their images of threats in a market context. The second type of research deals with transnational relations, and especially with strategies for exerting transnational influence. The outcome of the business leaders' transnational lobbying can partly be explained by the orientation of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) cooperation.
