Nordic Peace and Northeast Asia

Gunnar Rekvig conducts research at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and holds a Ph.D. in International and Regional Studies from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He is the Deputy Director for the GlobalArctic project at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, served as an associate professor of Northern Studies at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, and was the 2019-2021 Nansen Professor at the University of Akureyri. His research focuses on peace studies and international relations in the Nordic region, the Arctic, and East Asia–centered on Japan. His work emphasizes both historical and contemporary perspectives on peace and trust-building mechanisms, as well as comparative perspectives on the Nordic Region and East Asia. Amidst the war in Ukraine, his research has undergone a comprehensive reassessment, emphasizing the relevance of historical Nordic foreign and security policies.

• 1. Preface to the Introduction.- 2. Introduction.- 3.The Nordic Security Community.- 4. The Nordic Peace: Current State and a Belligerent Background.- 5. Case One: Norway-Sweden – Unification, Union, Disunion, and the legacy of the Peace of Kiel 1814-1905.-     6. Case Two: Denmark-Germany – the Schleswig-Holstein Issue: Two Wars, a Loss of Territory, Irredentism, Plebiscite, the Redrawing of a Border, and Minority Rights 1864-1920 (& 1955).- 7. Case Three: Finland-Sweden – The Territorial and the Irredentist Predicament of the Åland Islands 1809-1921.- 8. Analysis and Discussion of the Nordic Peace.- 9. Nordic Principles as Peace Mechanisms.- 10. Nordic Solutions – Relevance for Japan and Northeast Asia.-11. Closing Remarks.