ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the fate of the Nordic peace brand during and after the so-called End of History. The end of the Cold War signified a massive challenge to the idea of the Nordic countries as a distinct group of nations. The Nordic peace brand had been established on (1) an idea of Nordic cooperation as a unique form of “asecuritized” transnational alignment, (2) a notion of a special “Nordic balance” that furthered peace and stability in the northern parts of Europe and (3) a conviction of a special global mission to export peace to more conflict-ridden regions of the world. After having faded away in the 1990s, Nordic Peace was reinvented in the new millennium, but on the basis of very different attributes. Security policy emerged as the leading field of Nordic cooperation, and the global mission of the Nordics seemed less driven by the idea of promoting peace than standing up for the universal values of the liberal west. The Russian attack on Ukraine has further contributed to this new securitized conception of Nordic Peace. Indeed, if Nordic exceptionality during the Cold War was built around notions of difference, it is today mainly put forward in terms of being a superior version of a common western/European theme.
