From Nordic Balance to joining NATO? – Keeping an Eye on the Geopolitical Ball

Keeping an Eye on the Geopolitical Ball, brought to you by Jamie Shea, Senior Fellow of Friends of Europe and former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General, provides a weekly overview of the current and emerging crises or threats in security and defence.

Using his past experience as an ex-NATO insider, his in-depth knowledge and insights gained throughout the years, Jamie casts his eye on the state of geopolitics in Europe and across the globe. He brings an independent view and essential insight into a range of conflicts and emerging threats on our shores and further afield.

Keeping an Eye on the Geopolitical Ball is essential viewing for anyone who wants to keep track of events as they unfold.

This week on Keeping an Eye on the Geopolitical Ball, Jamie Shea, Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe, discusses the potential for Finland and Sweden to join NATO, explaining the historical context of their neutral stance and the reasons behind the recent switch in the public opinion. Witnesses to the invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden are now realizing that without NATO membership, their own territories could be at risk. In both countries, the public sentiment is now largely in favor of joining the alliance. Shea discusses the process of becoming a member of the alliance and three critical points regarding both Nordic states: The usually long process of joining NATO and what it would mean to give security guarantees before Finland and Sweden would formally become members, the capacity of NATO potentially defending both states, and the EU-NATO overlap that would be implied if Finland and Sweden join the alliance.