5th NORDIC-BALTIC CONFERENCE IN REGIONAL SCIENCE
GLOBAL-LOCAL INTERPLAY IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION
Pärnu, Estonia, October 1-4, 1998

Kaisa Lähteenmäki-Smith
Dept. of Political Science
20014 University of Turku, Finland
Tel.: +358 - (0)2 - 333 5864    Fax: + 358 - (0)2 - 333 5090     
E-mail: kaisa.lahteenmaki@utu.fi

The late 20th century is marked by conflicting processes of integration and fragmentation. The process of globalization is making the world into a different place—a place where place, space, locality, distance, and regionality are in a constant state of flux. Ongoing social and political trends have made local and regional spheres of action ever more important, as crucial issues relating to our future (identity, environment, social welfare) impact upon the local and regional spheres with particular intensity. Responses are required that aim at connecting the local and the global, making the regional an appropriate middle-ground where social and political transformations can be related to the level of individual agency. There is need for adaptation, but equally, openings for empowerment that allow the regions to play an active part in European development. This process of ‘fragmegration’, coined by Rosenau, is applicable to the Baltic Sea Region, where intense social, political and economic transformations are taking place.

The European Union represents the framework in which these changes occur (in Member States and those awaiting accession). This situation represents a unique political environment, with direct impact on the construction of the regional condition. This becomes most obvious through an analysis of scenarios for the regional tier in the European sphere and subsequent strategies for action. The scenarios outlined in this paper (‘Federal Europe’, ‘Intergovernmental Europe’, ‘Concentric Circles’ and ‘Multi-level Europe’) suggest three alternative strategies in terms of regional development and empowerment: globalization (competition-oriented), political mobilisation (traditional institutional routes to influence) and counter-strategy (introverted nationalistic or regionalist strategies of exclusion). Such approaches are dependent on a complex configuration of social and political forces, in addition to regional mobilisations (internal and external). The challenge facing regional actors is one of striking a balance between adaptation and empowerment, and a tentative analysis of their successes are the main focus of this presentation.