Demilitarisation in an increasingly militarised world. International perspectives in a multilevel framework – the case of the Åland Islands

How is the demilitarisation and neutralisation regime of the Åland Islands affected by the many, new and varying modes of military-civilian cooperation in the Baltic Sea?In order to answer this core research question the project researchers look at the following issues:- The effects of modern technology;- The fusion of civil and military aspects in international relations and activities;- Proliferating forms of military-civilian cooperation, often non-formalised and non-treaty based;- The Åland demilitarisation in comparison with e.g. the Svalbard treaty and the Antarctic treaty, but also other similar regimes.The project makes a contribution to knowledge not only through the empirical examination of a selected case study – the Åland Islands demilitarisation – but also at a broader theoretical and practical level on a wide range of contemporary challenges, in particular problems of the evolving understandings about drawing the line between what is military and what is civilian; the interaction between national and international regulatory frameworks in the field of national security and military cooperation; new forms of international cooperation beyond international treaties and organisations strictu senso; conditions for a possible usefulness, or not, of demilitarisation in other parts of the world, in particular in the Arctic region.

The research project is a co-operation between the Åland Islands Peace Institute (ÅIPI) and The University of Lapland and its Arctic Center in Rovaniemi, Docent Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark is the leader of the project.