Sweden and the Baltic Sea Region

Swedish policy towards the Baltic Sea region in the post-Cold-War period reflects an internationalist approach aimed at institutionalizing regional cooperative mechanisms, along with a generic interest in managing relations with Russia. The Baltic region is of significant strategic interest to Sweden. From a strategic foreign policy perspective, the institutions-based approach to regional cooperation can be viewed as a formula for Sweden to multilateralize relations with Russia while simultaneously reaping economic and security benefits that stem from regional and European-level interdependencies. The roles that follow from this approach—as regional integrator and as normative critic of Russia—are increasingly enacted through European channels, primarily the EU.