EVOLUTION OF THE SECURITY PARADIGM OF SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES IN THE XXth CENTURY

Abstract

The conceptual foundations of the study of security policy in modern political science, in particular the content of the notions of "security" and "national security" in modern international relations, neutrality and non-alignment in the foreign policy of the Scandinavian countries are highlighted. The key conceptual approaches used in scientific research concerning understanding of the basics of foreign policy directions of Scandinavian countries in the field of security and defense are analyzed. It is determined that each of the approaches is based on the understanding of the national interests of each Scandinavian country. These interests directly form the foreign policy vectors of the Scandinavian countries in the security sphere and correlate with the current international circumstances. The focus of the study on security concepts is the review of the cooperative security system (ex. NATO, which includes Denmark, Iceland and Norway) and the concepts of neutrality and non-alignment (represented by Finland and Sweden). The place and role of the policy of neutrality and non-alignment in the foreign policy of the Scandinavian countries, in particular the non-alignedness of Finland and its influence on foreign policy, the policy of neutrality of Sweden in the historical retrospective and the present state, are determined. The security policy of Norway, its history and current state and security policy of Denmark and Iceland are investigated. The stages of the evolution of the Euro-Atlantic security and defense policy of each Scandinavian country have been traced. The degree of Scandinavian countries' involvement in the EU Common Security and Defense Policy has been determined. Key words: security; Scandinavian countries; neutrality; non-aligned; NATO; EU Common Security and Defense Policy.