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Arctic Yearbook 2013
Koivumaa
The Northern-Finnish Frontier Regions
Understanding the post-Cold War transition in the northern frontier regions requires an updated
understanding of the geopolitical actors in the European North. According to my definition, the
Northern-Finnish frontier regions encompass Lapland, the Sami Region, the Torne Valley and the
Bothnian Arc. The chosen regions follow state borders and are situated far from the administrative
centres of the states of the European North. Defining the Sami Region, the Torne Valley, and the
Bothnian Arc as Northern Finland's frontier regions presents a more dynamic view of Northern
Finland than the state-centric view of Lapland as the ―back pocket of Finland.‖ Frontiers and
regions at the borders of the state are increasing their ontological status in the transition of the
international system. At the same time technology improves and strengthens the contact from the
―frontiers‖ and ―borders‖ to all other places in the world.
Since the end of the Cold War, Lappish actors have looked towards the East and West as well as
South. This became possible because the ―Iron Curtain‖ between Lapland and ―East‖ collapsed
together with the Cold War. Northwest Russia was a militarily significant area to the Soviet Union.
After the Cold War the importance of the economy and natural resources in the Barents region has
increased (versus military aspects). In the post-Cold War transition Lappish companies have tried to
find economic partners in the new Russian ―market economy‖. Of course there have been many
problems, but the fact is that the arrangements between Lappish and Russian economies and civil
societies are now totally different from those during the Cold War. One indication of that is the
increase of tourism between Russia and Lapland. All in all, during the post-Cold War transition the
co-operation – as far as I know – between eastern and western civil societies in the north have
deepened in many sectors (tourism, business, co-operation for sustainable development, education
etc.). One institutionalized framework for the co-operation has been the Barents Euro-Arctic
Region.
For example the attitude of modernization towards the Sámi people has reflected the arrangements
between the modern international state system and Aboriginal or native inhabitants in the European
North. From the perspective of modernization, the culture, sovereignty, languages and even the
inhabitants of the European North have been less modernized than the particular hegemonic state
cultures and money/modern economy in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia/Soviet Union. The
―grand narratives of modernization‖ have justified the states‘ policies – concerning for example
natural resources, education and governance – in the ―northern peripheries‖ of the states. As a part
of the modern international system the borders of the states – and also the Iron Curtain during the
Cold War – have defined the political geography in the Sami region. The state borders have for
example divided the pre-state economical areas in the north. During the post-Cold War transition
the situation changed. There have been political acts also in the European North which indicate the
above-mentioned changes for the roles of the states in the international system. For example actors
in the Sámi region have carried out their identity politics despite the fact that the Sámi people do not
have their own state. The borders of the states do not exclusively define the political acts in the
North anymore.