Spiraling toward a New Cold War in the North? The Effect of Mutual and Multifaceted Securitization

Abstract

Building on a discourse-theoretical reading of securitization theory, this article theorizes and examines how two political entities can become locked in a negative spiral of identification that may lead to a violent confrontation. Through mutual and multifaceted securitization, each party increasingly construes the other as a threat to itself. When this representation spreads beyond the military domain to other dimensions (trade, culture, diplomacy), the other party is projected as “different” and “dangerous” at every encounter: positive mutual recognition is gradually blocked out. Military means then become the logical, legitimate way of relating: contact and collaboration in other issue-areas are precluded. Drawing on official statements 2014–2018, this article investigates how Norwegian–Russian relations shifted from being a collaborative partnership to one of enmity in the High North. The emerging and mutual pattern of representing the other as a threat across issue-areas since 2014 has become an “autonomous” driver of conflict—regardless of whether either party might originally have had offensive designs on the other.

Greenland in Arctic Security

“…On the one hand, following a reconceptualization of the traditional security dilemma on social-constructivist terms as a 'securitization dilemma, ' Wilhelmsen (2020;cf. Wilhelmsen and Hjamann (2022)) argues that the mutual homogenization of the Other as only threatening across all issues is important for current escalation in the Arctic.…”

Beroligelse 2.0: Teori, praksis og rammevilkår i en ny tid

“…Russlands pågående invasjon har knust alle illusjoner om en retur til 1990tallets gryende liberalisering og utviklingsoptimisme, et håp som siden okkupasjon av Krym-halvøya og deler av Donbas i 2014 har fremstått som mer og mer urealistisk. Hvem som i størst grad har skylda for -og hva som er hovedårsakene til -forvitringen i relasjonen mellom Russland og Vesten 3 i de to tiårene forut for den pågående krigen, er sammensatt og til en viss grad omdiskutert (Baev, 2022;Foreign Affairs, 2022;Mearsheimer, 2019Mearsheimer, , 2014Poast, 2022;Wilhelmsen, 2021). Årsaker og skyld til side: Status er at forholdet mellom Moskva og mange vestlige land, Norge inkludert, er like spent og antagonistisk som under de kaldeste delene av den kalde krigen.…”