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Arctic Yearbook 2015
The theoretical concept of security communities and methodological
considerations
One of the underlying assumptions of this article is that regional security is hardly immune to
geopolitical changes and to outside influences. Looking for example into the Arctic region, the current
changes in the European security environment seem to also require an assessment of possible
spillover-effects to the security agenda in the High North. In this regard, theories, such as the wellestablished ‘regional security complex theory’ by Barry Buzan and Ole Waever (2003), seem only little
promising, as they particularly emphasize ‘proximity’, both, for security interaction, but also for
security threats especially in the military, political, societal and environmental sector (Buzan & Wæver
2003: 45 f.). Technological progress and global security challenges like climate change seem to ask for
a much more general and open theoretical framework. The subsequent section will thus briefly define
and outline the theoretical concept of ‘Security Communities,’ which will afterwards serve as the point
of departure for identifying the key elements of an Arctic security community as well as for discussing
spillover effects from the Ukrainian crisis.
Definition
The term ‘Security Community’ was first coined in 1957 by political scientist Karl Deutsch in his
research on political communities (Deutsch 1957). He argued that security communities would
represent a particular form of a political community, one in which the members of a certain
geographical area hold a long-term “dependable expectation […] of ‘peaceful change’” (Deutsch 1957:
2) as they share the common belief that group-internal disputes will solely be regulated and resolved
through non-violent, institutionalized procedures (ibid.). While also elaborating briefly on necessary
conditions for the establishment of such communities, for example communication (ibid.: 17 f.) and
common, unifying core areas (e.g. size, economy, and administration) (ibid.: 18 f.), Deutsch’s concept
failed to provide a 6