Uncertainty and Opportunity in an Era of East—West Change

Abstract

It is a great pleasure indeed to welcome so many friends and colleagues to Norway for the Thirty-First Annual Conference of The International Institute for Strategic Studies. The venue is most appropriate in view of the theme of this year’s conference. Norway occupies a strategic position in the geometry of the international security system. Inevitably, tensions within the central balance of nuclear deterrence affect the strategic environment in the northern areas in Europe. Increasingly the security of Northern Europe connects with the defence arrangements on the central front. The security order in Europe comprises Northern Europe and the latter provides an important link in the transatlantic security arrangements connecting Western Europe and North America. Hence, the strategic implications of change in the Soviet Union may also be assessed with reference to the situation in the northern corner of Europe.