Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains the transformation of the European security order associated with the demise of the Cold War created the opportunity, and some argued the necessity, to develop a security architecture more specifically suited to the 'wider Europe's' circumstances. The most entrenched institutions, were the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU). The very fact that these bodies survived while not only the but also the Soviet Union itself disappeared did more than symbolise the West's Cold War victory, for their continued existence also seemed to imply, even threaten, the maintenance of a divided Europe. The regional balance hinged quite crucially on Finland's 'Finlandised' status as well as on an armed and active neutrality for Sweden which certainly ruled out NATO membership but which was additionally reinforced by non-membership of the EC.