24-27 June 1998--The Nordic Countries and the Cold War (Reykjavik, Iceland)

On June 24-27, 1998, CWIHP co-sponsored a conference with the London School of Economics and the Historical Institute of the University of Iceland on "The Nordic Countries and the Cold War, 1945-1991" in Reykjavik, Iceland. The conference placed the role of the Nordic countries in the East-West struggle in an international context, evaluating newly available evidence due to the opening of archives.

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

JUNE 24

Conference Opening
15:00-15:15
Opening Remarks:

Halldbr Asgrimsson, Icelandic Minister for Foreign Affairs

15:15-15:30
Christian Ostermann, Director (Cold War International History Project);
Valur Ingimundarson (University of Iceland)

15:30-16:45
Opening Roundtable: Towards a New Cold War History
Chair:
Bjorn Bjarnason, Icelandic Minister of Culture and Education

Panelists:
John Lewis Gaddis (Yale University)
Geir Lundestad (The Norwegian Nobel Institute)
James Hershberg (George Washington University)
Krister Wahlback (Swedish Foreign Ministry)
Odd Arne Westad (The Norwegian Nobel Institute)

June 25

9:00-11:00
Session I:
Roundtable on the "Nordic Balance" and Finnish and Swedish Neutrality Policies

Chair: Jussi Hanhimaki (London School of Economics)
Mikko Majander (University of Helsinki)
Kimmo Rentola (University of Helsinki)
Mikael af Malmborg (University of Lund)
Jaakko Iloniemi (Former Finnish Ambassador to the United States)
Krister Wahlback (Swedish Foreign Ministry)
Ingemar Dorfer (Research Director, Swedish Defense Institute)
Sune Persson (University of Gothenburg)

11:10-12:45
Session II: The Soviet Union and the Nordic Countries

Chair: Thor Whitehead (University of Iceland)
Bent lensen (Odense University)
"The Soviet Union and Denmark, 1945-1965: Perceptions and Policies"
Jon Olafsson (Columbia University)
"Resisting Petit-Bourgeois Influence' Icelandic Socialists in the Fifties"
Kimmo Rentola (University of Helsinki)
"The Spring of 1948: Which Way Finland?"

Discussion

14:45-16:30

Session III: The West and the Nordic Countries: NATO or Neutrality

Chair: Odd Arne Westad (The Norwegian Nobel Institute)
Poul Villaume (University of Copenhagen)
"Reluctant Ideological Cold Warrior: Denmark and U.S./ NATO Propaganda Warfare, 1948-1954"
Olafur Hardarson (University of Iceland)
"Public Opinion and Iceland's Western Integration"
Mats Berdal (Oxford University)
"Norway and U.S. Maritime Strategy in the 1950s"
Juhana Aunesluoma (Oxford University)
"Limits of Neutrality: Sweden and the Western Powers in the Early Cold War, 1945-54"

Discussion

June 26

9:00-11:00

Session IV: Western Military Activities in the High North

Chair: James Hershberg (George Washington University)
Rolf Tamnes (Norwegian Defense Institute, Oslo)
"Military Buildup and Nordic Stability in the 1970s"
Thorsten Borring Olesen (University of Aarhus)
"The Jewel in the Crown: Denmark, the USA and Greenland i941-1951".
Svend Aage Christensen (Danish Institute of International Affairs)
"Greenland in Danish and American Nuclear Policy, 1951-1968"
Valur Ingimundarson (University of Iceland)
"The Illogic of Passivity: The Role of Iceland in NATO and U.S. Strategic Thinking, 1945-1965"

Discussion

11:15-13:00
Session V: Threat Perceptions during the Second Cold War

Chair: John Lewis Gaddis (Yale University)
K.G.H. Hillingso (Royal Danish Defense College)
"The Role of Denmark in Warsaw Pact War Plans"
Albert Jbnsson (Icelandic Prime Minister's Office)
"Iceland and Soviet Military Activity during the Second Cold War"
Georgi Arbatov (USA-Canada Institute, Moscow)
"The Soviet Union and the Nordic Countries"
Ingemar Dorfer (Research Director, Swedish Defense Institute)
"Swedish Neutrality and the Second Cold War" Discussion

June 27

9:00-11:00
Session VI: New Archival Evidence on the Nordic Countries

Chair: Christian Ostermann (Cold War International History Project)
Jordan Baev (Bulgarian Ministry of Defense)
"Two Poles of the Cold War Confrontation in Europe: Bulgaria and the Nordic Countries"
Maxim L. Korobochkin (Russian Academy of Sciences)
"Soviet Policies toward Finland and Norway, 1947-53"
Alexei A. Komarov (Russian Academic of Sciences)
"From World War II to the Cold War: Soviet Interests in Finland and Norway, 1944-1947"
Sune Persson (University of Gothenburg)
"Sweden: The Reluctant Peacekeeper" Discussion

11:15-13:00
Session VII: The Impact of the Cold War on Nordic Culture

Chair: Geir Lundestad (The Norwegian Nobel Institute)
Mikael af Malmborg (University of Lund)
"Neutrality as Political Identity: Sweden in the Cold War"
Arni Bergmann (University of Iceland)
"Soviet Cultural Perceptions of Iceland"
Mikko Majander (University of Helsinki)
"In Defense of Nordic Identity: Finnish Social Democracy and the Cold War"
Jussi Hanhimaki (London School of Economics)
"A Culture Clash? The United States and Scandinavia during the Cold War"

Discussion