DOCSLIB.ORG

Section I Security in and Around the Baltic States

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Section I Security in and Around the Baltic States Section I Security in and around the Baltic States On the eve of NATO and the EU enlargements the Baltic Defence Review once again suggests to reflect on the issues that need to be carefully thought through in the Baltic states before entering the new period of their history. In the first article, Ambassador Torstern Orn offers a broad description of the Baltic Sea Region, both in historical and contemporary contexts, and its importance in the new and united Europe. His eloquent and insightful account of transforma- tions that the region has been, and still is, going through also reminds us of the questions which call for our attention. Some of those questions are new, stemming from the new realities of the region, and some are old but still unanswered, which underlines both change and continuity as a defining feature of the regions development. The authors simple but powerful words on the need to master the past without negligence or nostalgia describe very accurately one of the most fundamental challenges that the entire Baltic Sea Region will have to tackle in the coming decades. In the second article of this section, Brigadier General Michael H. Clemmesen casts a critical look at the expectations of the incoming NATO members towards the deterrent value of membership. He contrasts those expectations with the direction of military reforms that the entire Alliance is pursuing. Thus articles argument revolves around the dilemma of new members, who are positioned on the periphery of the Alliance and have some distinct security concerns. On the one hand, they have to make a meaningful contribution to the missions of NATO, which is preparing to project power globally. On the other hand, they wish to retain some effective capability to address their own, local or regional, security realities. Inevitably, the question of how much of the allied assistance would be available and what difference it would make in dealing with the direct military threat comes into equation. The author assesses military reforms undertaken by the old and new members of NATO and offers clear recommendations on how to balance the two imperatives an optimal contribution to the Alliance by the new members and security of those new members on the periphery of NATO through adjustments to the concepts and direction of developing military capabilities within the Alliance. 5 The Baltic Sea Region an Important Economic and Political Factor in the New Europe By Torsten Orn* he Baltic Sea region has a stormy was the wall between East and West Ber- most of the commercial and cultural cen- history. It has been marked by the lin. Few Swedes were thinking of Tallinn tres around the Baltic Sea, who all bear Vikings, the Crusading Knights, the as the closest capital city to Stockholm, the imprint of how much one can learn Hanseatic merchants, great power navies and even fewer remembered that Riga had once from one another. armies under different flags. In their struggle been the largest city of the Swedish realm. After the great dramatic and for once for dominium maris Baltici, to use the Poland had returned to the map of Eu- peaceful changes in Europe around 1990 classical phrase, nearly all the bordering rope but hardly in a manner that befit- also this eternity had come to its end. States have had their moment or moments ted this proud and creative nation. The Some people were busy talking of a re- of power and glory. But very little eternity. Nordic Countries Denmark, Norway, turn to conditions after World War I. But Sweden, Finland and Iceland were as split that soon proved to be a mistaken con- For those of us who came to geographi- in military orientation as if they had been clusion. For one thing the three Baltic cal and political maturity after 1945 the situated in the Balkans or in the Middle Republics got a much warmer interna- Baltic Sea was a moat in the Cold War. A East. The old truth that water unites tional reception now than in the 1920s. northwards prolongation of that Iron seemed to have been relegated to a mu- A bad conscience in the West certainly Curtain, whose most concrete expression seum of history. This to the detriment of played its part. So did Balts in exile. * Ambassador Torsten Orn (Sweden) is a former Head of the OSCE Mission to Latvia 7 Every period in history has its own II has been recognized by no less an author- Vergangenheitsbewältigung is impor- and partly very different challenges. So ity than Mikhail Gorbatchov. And we should tant. To master the past without negligence also this new period, which still hasnt certainly not forget the Singing Revolutions or nostalgia. West Germany has achieved a even got a proper name. in the Baltic States. Those who critically lot in this respect, East Germany consider- How do we define the Baltic Sea re- spoke about Finlandisierung, when try- ably less. Russia has hardly begun. This is gion? Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, ing to define Finlands skilful balancing act also important in the Baltic states when it Latvia and Lithuania in their entirety of between East and West, probably had no comes to Jews, Nazis and Soviets during course. But how much of Russia east of idea about what an attractive model such a the last century. It involves not only pro- Pskov and Novgorod? How much of Po- policy constituted for Balts and Poles. The fessional historians but practically every land south of Gdansk and Szczecin? Which Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Björn family. Was your beloved grandmother a German Länder apart from Mecklenburg Engholm, now began to talk about a New gallant partisan or an opportunistic fellow- Vorpommern and SchleswigHolstein? Hansa. What importance will future histo- traveller? Telling stories about the stupid- Should we not also for cultural and eco- ity of ones neighbours is one thing. Ra- rians attach to the fact that Vladimir Putin nomic reasons include Hamburg and Nor- cial persecution and ethnic cleansing is a is a native of St Petersburg rather than of way? The Nordic Iceland? Belarus? Some very different matter. the Ukraine, the Caucasus or Siberia? people would go as far as to include all After the fall of the Berlin wall there was Many things are needed to make this a land around the rivers flowing into the a general movement towards the West. Swe- better century than the last one for the in- Baltic Sea. This is not a matter for geogra- den and Finland wanted to become full phers only. It has a great bearing on the habitants of the Baltic Sea region. First of members of the EU, Poland left the Warsaw national agendas drawn up in Moscow, all mistrust and armaments must give way Pact, the Baltic states also left the Soviet Warsaw and Berlin. What importance do to hope and optimism. We must all realize Union. Membership of the EU and NATO the ruling circles in those capitals give to that we will grow much bigger, stronger was automatic for East Germany as part of developments in our region? and more beautiful if we cooperate with the German reunification, but the reunifi- Events in the Baltic Sea region were respect, of course, for each others cultural cation itself was not easy, neither economi- also important for the winding up of the identity and right to exist. Openness, toler- cally nor psychologically. Mental reunifica- Cold War. Lech Walesa and his shipyard ance and free trade are the roads to pros- tion may well take another generation. workers in Gdansk are already history. The perity and political structures which can Sweden and Finland entered the EU importance of the Polish Pope John Paul guarantee a more humane existence. in 1995, but unfortunately not Norway, 8 where a majority had voted no in 1994. the EU as Spain. Hopefully the northern organized international crime also requires Poland joined NATO in 1999 and will dimension of the EU will be more pro- joint efforts. Most of us didnt realize that join the EU next year. The Baltic states nounced after this enlargement. crime would be privatized before any- will join both next year. Much sooner Membership of the EU will probably also thing else. How much corruption can we than anybody had dared to think only a work as a useful tool, as a lever, to modern- tolerate in a state that claims to be demo- few years ago! ize the societies of the new members in a cratic? All these are serious threats to our This represented a tremendous effort western sense. Much would have happened societies, even if they are of different char- from the countries concerned. Other anyway, but now it will happen quicker. It acter compared to tanks and missiles. countries have assisted them in their own will probably be painful in certain sectors, It is important to remember that ev- enlightened self-interest. But the bulk ev- which have been spoiled by protection with- erything doesnt have to be done on in- erybody had to do by himself. From to- out competition. Governments must be able terstate levels. In Europe of the regions talitarian dictatorship and command to deliver the famous omelette rather soon much can be achieved transnationally by economy to pluralistic democracy and as explanation for the broken eggs, if they regions of various countries without in- want to survive politically. market economy is a long way. The course volving the national centres. Even more There is a great economic growth po- has been remarkably steady in spite of can be done by non-governmental institu- tential in a more intensified cooperation.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Securities Whistleblowing Under Dodd-Frank: Neglecting the Power of “Enterprising Privateers” in Favor of the “Slow-Going Public Vessel”
    Do Not Delete 2/14/2012 1:27 PM SECURITIES WHISTLEBLOWING UNDER DODD-FRANK: NEGLECTING THE POWER OF “ENTERPRISING PRIVATEERS” IN FAVOR OF THE “SLOW-GOING PUBLIC VESSEL” by Michael Neal∗ This Note analyzes the SEC whistleblower program, as modified by the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. It reviews the history of whistleblowing-like statutes in the United States and analyzes the successes and failures of prior whistleblowers after dividing them into two mutually exclusive groups: Insiders, those who are employed by the company against whom they report; and Outsiders, non-employees. The Note concludes that the new SEC whistleblower program is deficient in two ways. First, it does not create an affirmative duty for Insiders to internally report when their employer has a functioning compliance department; and second, Outsiders lack an offensive private cause of action granting them standing to sue on behalf of the SEC. The Note recommends changes to the program that resolve these deficiencies and better align the SEC’s required functions with its resources. The Note concludes that, as enacted, the SEC whistleblower program encourages the avoidance of internal corporate compliance systems, externalizes corporate compliance to a regulatory body already struggling to provide adequate oversight, weakens the partnership between the regulator and the regulated, and has the potential of reversing the positive progression in corporate cultures developed over the past decade. I. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1108 II. U.S. INFORMANT PROGRAMS ................................................. 1110 A. Stealing from the Government—The False Claims Act ................ 1110 B. The IRS Informant Program—“The Reward for Rats” ............... 1114 C. The SEC Informant Program ...................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Sherron Watkins and Whistle Blowing at Enron Ethics of 3
    BUSINESS Cases in Corporate Ethics: Contemporary Challenges and Imperatives; Strategy & General Management, Ethics and Social Justice, Organizational Behavior, Human Resource, Operations, Finance and Accounting, Marketing and Sales. Case 2.3: Sherron Watkins and Whistle Blowing at Enron Ozzie Mascarenhas SJ, PhD DRD Tata Chair Professor of Business Ethics, XLRI Jamshedpur, India | Published: June 2015 | Redistribution or use without the expressed, written permission of The Global Jesuit Case Series is prohibited. For information on usage rights, contact the Global Jesuit Case Series at [email protected] ________________________________________________________________________ Cases in Corporate Ethics: Contemporary Challenges and Imperatives Jesuit Series, Madden School of Business, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY Donated by: Ozzie Mascarenhas SJ, PhD JRD Tata Chair Professor of Business Ethics, XLRI, Jamshedpur, India June 15, 2015 The fifteen cases in Business ethics included here represent the first installment of the thirty cases promised to the Cases in Business Ethics – The Jesuit Series at the University of Le Moyne, Syracuse, NY. We have added three more. The remaining eighteen cases will follow shortly. The thirty three cases illustrate and depend upon the content of corporate ethics outlined in Table 1. As might be clear from Table I, the Course in Corporate Ethics has three parts: Part One explores the ethical quality of moral agents embedded in the capitalist markets such as the human person, the fraud-prone person, the virtuous actor (virtue ethics) and the trusting executive (ethics of trust). Part Two investigates the ethical quality of moral agencies of executive decisions, choices and actions when supported by ethics of critical thinking, moral reasoning, ethics of rights and duties, and ethics of moral leadership.
    [Show full text]
  • Baltic Towns030306
    Seventeenth Century Baltic Merchants is one of the most frequented waters in the world - if not the Tmost frequented – and has been so for the last thousand years. Shipping and trade routes over the Baltic Sea have a long tradition. During the Middle Ages the Hanseatic League dominated trade in the Baltic region. When the German Hansa definitely lost its position in the sixteenth century, other actors started struggling for the control of the Baltic Sea and, above all, its port towns. Among those coun- tries were, for example, Russia, Poland, Denmark and Sweden. Since Finland was a part of the Swedish realm, ”the eastern half of the realm”, Sweden held positions on both the east and west coasts. From 1561, when the town of Reval and adjacent areas sought protection under the Swedish Crown, ex- pansion began along the southeastern and southern coasts of the Baltic. By the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648, Sweden had gained control and was the dom- inating great power of the Baltic Sea region. When the Danish areas in the south- ern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula were taken in 1660, Sweden’s policies were fulfilled. Until the fall of Sweden’s Great Power status in 1718, the realm kept, if not the objective ”Dominium Maris Baltici” so at least ”Mare Clausum”. 1 The strong military and political position did not, however, correspond with an economic dominance. Michael Roberts has declared that Sweden’s control of the Baltic after 1681 was ultimately dependent on the good will of the maritime powers, whose interests Sweden could not afford to ignore.2 In financing the wars, the Swedish government frequently used loans from Dutch and German merchants.3 Moreover, the strong expansion of the Swedish mining industries 1 Rystad, Göran: Dominium Maris Baltici – dröm och verklighet /Mare nostrum.
    [Show full text]
  • Former Enron Vice President Sherron Watkins on the Enron Collapse
    UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title Former Enron vice president Sherron Watkins on the Enron collapse Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9pb4r7nj Journal Academy of Management Executive, 17(4) ISSN 1079-5545 Author Pearce, JL Publication Date 2003 DOI 10.5465/ame.2003.11851888 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California ? Academy of Management Executive, 2003, Vol. 17, No. 4 Former Enron vice president Sherron Watkins on the Enron collapse Academy Address, August 3, 2003, by Sherron Watkins Introduction to the address by Academy President Jone L. Pearce It is my pleasure to introduce Sherron Watkins, the Academy of Management's 2003 Distinguished Executive Speaker. By now, her story as the former vice president of Enron Corporation who tried to bring what she called "an elaborate accounting hoax" to the attention of Enron's chief executive officer is well known. In August 2001, responding to his invitation to employees to put any concerns in a comment box, she did so. When he did not address her explosive charges at a subsequent company-wide meeting, she sought a face-to-face meeting with him. A month later the CEO announced to employees that "our financial liquidity has never been stronger," while exercising his own $1.5 billion in stock options, just ahead of the company's announcement of a $618 million quarterly loss. When United States Congressional investigators uncovered her letter buried in boxes of documents, they brought Ms. Watkins before the United States Senate in February 2002 to testify about her warnings.
    [Show full text]
  • HILDER & ASSOCIATES, PC Attorneys for Sherron Watkins 819 Lovett Blvd Houston, Texas 77006 Office
    HILDER & ASSOCIATES, P.C. Attorneys for Sherron Watkins 819 Lovett Blvd Houston, Texas 77006 Office (713) 655-9111 Facsimile (713) 655-9112 Philip H. Hilder Edgar A. Goldberg, Of Counsel UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK --------------------------------------------------------------------x : In re : Chapter 11 : ENRON CORP., et al., : Case No. 01-16034 (AJG) : : Jointly Administered Debtors. : --------------------------------------------------------------------x REVISED FINAL FEE APPLICATION OF PHILIP HILDER & ASSOCIATES, P.C. FOR ALLOWANCE OF COMPENSATION FROM DECEMBER 10, 2001 THROUGH NOVEMBER 15, 2002 TO THE HONORABLE ARTHUR J. GONZALEZ, UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE: 1. Philip Hilder as Philip Hilder & Associates, P.C. (“Hilder”) counsel for Sherron Watkins, files this Revised Final Fee Application for Allowance of Compensation (the “Application”) for the period from December 10, 2001 through November 15, 2002 (the “Application Period”). STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION 2. This Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C.§§ 1334 and 157 and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 5005. This matter is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 157(b)(2)(B). This motion arises under 11 U.S.C. §§ 327(e), 328(a), 105a, 503 and 330. REVISED FINAL FEE APPLICATION OF PHILIP HILDER & ASSOCIATES, P.C. FOR ALLOWANCE OF COMPENSATION FROM DECEMBER 10, 2001 THROUGH NOVEMBER 15, 2002 PAGE 1 FACTUAL BACKGROUND 3. Sherron S. Watkins was a Vice President of Corporate Development, Enron Corporation (‘Debtors”). Ms. Watkins sounded the alarm having warned Ken Lay that Enron “might implode in a wave of accounting scandals”. Ms. Watkins disclosed the Debtors’ financial improprieties to her colleagues and the authorities.
    [Show full text]
  • The Baltic Sea Region the Baltic Sea Region
    TTHEHE BBALALTTICIC SSEAEA RREGIONEGION Cultures,Cultures, Politics,Politics, SocietiesSocieties EditorEditor WitoldWitold MaciejewskiMaciejewski A Baltic University Publication Education and research 14 as cultural policies Kazimierz Musiał 1. Introduction Increased educational and research activities concerning the Baltic Sea region in recent years let us speak of them as of some form of distinctive cultural policies. This chapter deals with the potential of these policies as a possibility for transforming the region into an efficient unit of inter- and sub-national cooperation. On the regional level, overcoming the legacy of the past and meeting the challenge of the future places particular responsibility and awakes expectations with regard to educational and research policies. They are regarded as a likely means of transformation, which in a rational manner may help to turn the Baltic Sea littoral states into a cooperating community. A point of departure is an interest group comprising of independent states which, through cultural policies, starts viewing itself as an integrated socio-cultural community. Benedict Anderson has shown that a community emerges if the belief in it is shared by a sufficient number of its inhabitants (Anderson 1983). In the prospective Baltic Sea com- munity this implies that the inhabitants should, apart from their national or sub-regional background, be able to identify with common patterns and artefacts which they would regard as constituting a distinctive achievement of the peoples inhabiting the Baltic Sea region. Education and research are able to deliver a matrix for regionalism, i.e. regional identification, through the exchange of ideas among networking scholars and the introduction of common, regionally integrated curricula.
    [Show full text]
  • The Baltic Sea Region the Baltic Sea Region
    TTHEHE BBALALTTICIC SSEAEA RREGIONEGION Cultures,Cultures, Politics,Politics, SocietiesSocieties EditorEditor WitoldWitold MaciejewskiMaciejewski A Baltic University Publication A chronology of the history 7 of the Baltic Sea region Kristian Gerner 800-1250 Vikings; Early state formation and Christianization 800s-1000s Nordic Vikings dominate the Baltic Region 919-1024 The Saxon German Empire 966 Poland becomes Christianized under Mieszko I 988 Kiev Rus adopts Christianity 990s-1000s Denmark Christianized 999 The oldest record on existence of Gdańsk Cities and towns During the Middle Ages cities were small but they grew in number between 1200-1400 with increased trade, often in close proximity to feudal lords and bishops. Lübeck had some 20,000 inhabitants in the 14th and 15th centuries. In many cities around the Baltic Sea, German merchants became very influential. In Swedish cities tensions between Germans and Swedes were common. 1000s Sweden Christianized 1000s-1100s Finland Christianized. Swedish domination established 1025 Boleslaw I crowned King of Poland 1103-1104 A Nordic archbishopric founded in Lund 1143 Lübeck founded (rebuilt 1159 after a fire) 1150s-1220s Denmark dominates the Baltic Region 1161 Visby becomes a “free port” and develops into an important trade center 1100s Copenhagen founded (town charter 1254) 1100s-1200s German movement to the East 1200s Livonia under domination of the Teutonic Order 1200s Estonia and Livonia Christianized 1201 Riga founded by German bishop Albert 1219 Reval/Tallinn founded by Danes ca 1250
    [Show full text]
  • National Whistleblower Day 2019
    PRESS KIT NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER DAY 2019 DIRKSEN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING Washington, D.C. | July 30, 2019 11:00AM - 1:30PM National Whistleblower Center 1875 Connecticut Ave. NW, 10th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20009 • [email protected] 202 342 1903 • www.whistleblowers.org 1 Speaker Biographies Jane Turner | Former FBI Agent | Master of Ceremonies Jane Turner worked for 25 years as a Special Agent for the FBI. She is one of the only FBI agents to win a lawsuit under the FBI Whistleblower Protection Act based on retaliation for exposing theft at the 9/11 crime scene. In a second whistleblower case, a jury in Minnesota found the FBI liable for retaliating against her in a sex discrimination lawsuit and awarded her the maximum damages permitted under law. Senator Charles E. Grassley | iowa | Keynote Speaker Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is a devoted champion of government accountability. Throughout his time in Congress, he has worked to empower whistleblowers to shine a light on fraud, inefficien- cies, or misconduct in government. Grassley, author of numerous whistleblower protection laws, is also founder and chairman of the bipartisan Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, which raises awareness about the need for adequate protections against retaliation for private sector and govern- ment employees who call attention to wrongdoing. Senator Ron Wyden | Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, (D-Oregon), one of the Senate’s foremost defenders of Americans’ rights and civil liberties, continues to fight back against government overreach and abuse. Wyden was elected to U.S. Senate in 1996, where he now serves as Ranking Member on the Senate Finance Committee, and as a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
    [Show full text]
  • FINANCIAL COLLAPSE of ENRON—Part 4
    THE FINANCIAL COLLAPSE OF ENRON—Part 4 HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 14, 2002 Serial No. 107–90 Printed for the use of the Committee on Energy and Commerce ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/house U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 78–506CC WASHINGTON : 2002 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Jun 13 2002 08:36 Jul 17, 2002 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 W:\DISC\78506 pfrm17 PsN: 78506 COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE W.J. ‘‘BILLY’’ TAUZIN, Louisiana, Chairman MICHAEL BILIRAKIS, Florida JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan JOE BARTON, Texas HENRY A. WAXMAN, California FRED UPTON, Michigan EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts CLIFF STEARNS, Florida RALPH M. HALL, Texas PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio RICK BOUCHER, Virginia JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York CHRISTOPHER COX, California FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey NATHAN DEAL, Georgia SHERROD BROWN, Ohio RICHARD BURR, North Carolina BART GORDON, Tennessee ED WHITFIELD, Kentucky PETER DEUTSCH, Florida GREG GANSKE, Iowa BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois CHARLIE NORWOOD, Georgia ANNA G. ESHOO, California BARBARA CUBIN, Wyoming BART STUPAK, Michigan JOHN SHIMKUS, Illinois ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico TOM SAWYER, Ohio JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona ALBERT R. WYNN, Maryland CHARLES ‘‘CHIP’’ PICKERING, Mississippi GENE GREEN, Texas VITO FOSSELLA, New York KAREN MCCARTHY, Missouri ROY BLUNT, Missouri TED STRICKLAND, Ohio TOM DAVIS, Virginia DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado ED BRYANT, Tennessee THOMAS M.
    [Show full text]
  • ICOHTEC Newsletter July 2010
    ICOHTEC NEWSLETTER www.icohtec.org No 64, July 2010 Newsletter of the International Committee for the History of Technology ICOHTEC Editor: Stefan Poser, Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg, Modern Social, Economic and Technological History, Holstenhofweg 85, D-22043 Hamburg, Germany, [email protected] Editorial Dear Colleagues and Friends, Our joint meeting of TICCIH, work lab, and ICOHTEC in Tampere will be attended by 330 participants (plus accompanying persons) from 40 countries. In total 270 presentations will be delivered in 70 sessions. Please find the final program and an electronic version of the book of abstracts on the conference main website http://www.tampere.fi/industrialpast2010/ In order to inform the members about the International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) and the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC) the Newsletter publishes short articles about both societies. You might be interested to know about the development of the history of technology in Finland. Thus the newsletter offers a bibliography of Finnish books and articles in the history of technology, assembled by the Finnish Society for the History of Technology . In 2007 Timo Myllyntaus, Tiina Männistö, and Riikka Jalonen (University of Turku) published a report about the development of the history of technology in Finland in the ICOHTEC Newsletter; it is available on our website: http://www.icohtec.org/publications-reports.html . A brand new article on this subject will be included in the Tampere conference bags: the journal Tekniikan Waiheita , Finnish Quarterly for the History of Technology , has published a special issue 2/2010 under the title: “Finnish Research on the History of Technology”.
    [Show full text]
  • Phd-Topic Eric Ladenthin the Development and Impacts Of
    PhD-topic Eric Ladenthin The development and impacts of Swedish alliances during Sweden’s age as a great power, 1597-1721 My research project aims to analyse the cultural, scientific or economical background of Swedish diplomatic alliances in the light of the struggle for the “Dominium Maris Baltici” and its rise and fall as a great power from the 16th to the 18th century. The reasons for Sweden’s ascendance from a backward, medieval country to its reign over the Baltic Sea Region we- ren’t only established through top-to-bottom reforms and a successful warfare under the Vasa-dynasty and chancellor Axel Oxenstierna, but also through neat negotiated alliances. Since the protestant Sweden was involved in several wars within the whole Baltic Sea Re- gion, their diplomats established partially long-lasting and frequent alliances e.g. with Bran- denburg-Prussia, and also with the catholic France and the Calvinistic United Netherlands. By doing this, all coalition partners crossed not only geographic and military, but also cultural and mental borders in order to set up a partnership. Diplomats and residents were during the early modern period in the political and religious dense Baltic Sea Region constant physi- cal and mental border crossers, who questioned, shifted or even erased “old” boundaries. These constant exchanges of people, trade goods and knowledge kept an ongoing transfor- mation process running. My main aim is to analyse how these alliances between the kingdom of Sweden and his allies were established and which factors affected the development of alliances within its rise and fall as a great power of the Baltic Sea.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Borderlands in the Baltic Sea Area(1) Layers of Cultural Diffusion and New Borderland Theories: the Case of Livonia
    Journal of History for the Public (2010) 7, pp 10-24 ©2010 Department of Occidental History, Osaka University. ISSN 1348-852x Historical Borderlands in the Baltic Sea Area(1) Layers of Cultural Diffusion and New Borderland Theories: The Case of Livonia Alexander Drost Introduction This paper presents a new borderland theory which is based on the trans-boundary overlap of economic, political and cultural layers of human activity in the Baltic Sea region from the late Middle Ages to the dawn of the 19th century. The development of a model that combines the concept of cultural layers and novel borderland theory is based on the assumption that the nation state of the 19th century has ceased to be a suitable model of historical explanation in today’s period of structural and intellectual flow. Research on intensive processes of economic, political and cultural integration in Europe and its impact on the individual perception of space, identity and living conditions have shown that due to these processes the frame set of structures in societies can no longer be solely determined by the concept of the nation state.(2) Zygmunt Bauman has stated that the nation state rests on the concept that ambivalence can be kept in check through order. The post-modern experience has shown that it is difficult to maintain this balance and ambivalence often gains the upper hand.(3) Present research from the perspective of political science or contemporary history detects a major political and societal transformation in the crossing and disappearance of national borders today.(4) The early modern historian chooses a different perspective which recurs to the spatial formation of states and regions in the pre-nation-state phase.
    [Show full text]