The newly published Handbook of Nordic Cooperation was launched last week in Denmark at a seminar co-hosted by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Copenhagen and Edward Elgar Publishing.
The handbook, edited by leading experts including PRIO Director Nina Græger, offers fresh insights into how Nordic collaboration – from early cultural exchanges to contemporary defence, environmental and welfare cooperation – has shaped politics, society and regional voice. It shows how the Nordic countries’ interconnectedness continues to strengthen their collective capacity to act on the global stage.
Speaking at the launch event in Copenhagen, PRIO Director Nina Græger emphasized how Nordic cooperation has been built incrementally and also informally: Often when different alignments with NATO and the EU or diverging national interests hindered formal Nordic policies and cooperation, informal cooperation based on mutual trust and common values, culture and language often led to pragmatic solutions and new beginnings.” Her comments reflect PRIO’s emphasis on empirically and historically informed research in addressing today’s challenges and in shaping key debates.
By combining long-term historical accounts, institutional analysis and forward-looking chapters, the handbook serves as a key reference for researchers, policymakers and practitioners working on transnational governance, security and collaborative models. Offering pathways for thinking about regional cooperation in an age of global turbulence, the editors suggest the Nordic case stands as “a model and inspiration for other regions of the world in a challenging time for international collaboration.”
