Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark (Editor) ISBN 978-952-5265-60-6 (English 2011) 30,00 euro + porto/postage
“The Åland Example and Its Components – Relevance for International Conflict Resolution” was launched on 1 November 2011 in connection with an international conference with over 100 participants, among them several prominent diplomats, politicians and researchers. (Read about the conference here).
This publication brings together the results of a research project on the dynamic nature of the Åland example and its significance for international conflict resolution that took place in 2010 and 2011.
The research project followed two tracks: continuity and change as characteristic features of the Åland regime. The Åland example as a tool in international conflict resolution on the other. Sia Spilopoulou Åkermark, Sarah Stephan and Heidi Öst have outlined features of both continuity and change in what can be classified as the Åland example’s three components: the autonomy regime and its institutional design, demilitarization and neutralization and the cultural and linguistic guarantees of the minority protection regime. To date, territorial autonomy or self-government as a possible conflict resolution tool has received only limited attention in the conflict resolution literature. By taking the discussion further – beyond the formal aspects of competence distribution between center and periphery – the current book achieves a double goal. First, it creates an analytical tool for understanding the duration and sustainability of self-governing arrangements in development. Secondly, it documents and analyzes how the Åland example and its three main components (self-government, demilitarization and language and cultural protection guarantees) have been used in specific disputes and conflict situations, including in the Caucasus, Kashmir, Japan, East Timor, Tibet and Israel-Palestine. the conflict. The book presents a unique combination of theoretical insight with the experiences of well-known diplomats and politicians.
The volume contains contributions from Professor Emeritus Yash Ghai, who has provided a comparative perspective, Professor Kjell-Åke Nordquist, who has written about the use of the Åland example in connection with negotiations regarding East Timor’s international status in the late 1990s, dr. Fujio Ohnishi, who has contributed with an analysis of Japanese perspectives on the Åland example, and by Åland’s representative in the Riksdag Elisabeth Nauclér who has written about her experiences regarding the application of the Åland example in the Balkans, among other places. Spiliopoulou Åkermark, Stephan and Öst had the opportunity to interview prominent diplomats, politicians and researchers, namely Heikki Talvitie, Jan Eliasson, Pär Stenbäck, Terhi Hakala, Thorvald Stoltenberg and Sten Widmalm, regarding the use of the Åland example in connection with the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Kashmir, South Sudan and Israel-Palestine.
The research and publication of the above-mentioned volume was made possible financially through support from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Åland Parliament’s Anniversary Fund and the Åland Provincial Government, and has attracted much attention, both in Åland and elsewhere.
