North Eastern Europe and Swedish great power policy: Reflections on historical consciousness

Abstract

The article discusses the usefulness of the concept of North Eastern Europe. It was developed as a cognitive instrument in order for historical analysis to focus on social structures and processes rather than on states. Swedish historical consciousness is linked to the history of the seventeenth century, not least thanks to the historical novels by Peter Englund. Sweden of those times was a multinational Baltic empire. Thus the use of the concept North Eastern Europe makes the active Swedish policy vis-à-vis the Baltic states and North West Russia acquire a certain legitimacy in the eyes of the Swedish public.