NORDIC CO-OPERATION IN JAPAN: TOWARDS FOREIGN POLICY COLLABORATION?

Abstract

In 2019, the prime ministers of the Nordic countries announced their joint vision of leading the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. While public opinion on EU integration has been divided in the Nordic countries, there is broad support for closer intra-Nordic collaboration. The paper asks whether this new vision is likely to lead to closer collaboration on the foreign policy front. To answer, trends in Nordic policies and strategies towards the wider world are studied and three joint initiatives centred on Japan are analysed to see how some of these policies have played out in practice. On the one hand, the cases demonstrate a variety of processes and formats for Nordic collaboration. On the other hand, they demonstrate how well Nordic collaboration can work in a remote, yet strategic market like Japan, not only as an abstract idea, but also in practice.