In his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney pointed to an uncomfortable reality: in a world where great powers once again dominate the playing field, mid-sized economies risk marginalisation – unless they act together.
This is not an abstract observation. It is a direct description of the Nordic strategic position.
In many respects, the Nordic region is one of the most advanced in the world: high institutional quality, strong innovation capacity, and deep economic integration. The ambition to become the most integrated region in the world by 2030 has already been articulated.
Yet a critical gap remains: the ability to translate this integration into coordinated industrial strength.
This is where initiatives such as the recently launched “Nordic Compass – The Nordic Round Table for Industry” become essential. When Jacob Wallenberg observes that “we can create greater strength together,” he puts his finger on the core issue. The perspective is distinctly industrial – the Nordic economies possess complementary strengths across multiple value chains, but lack a shared platform for strategic coordination.
Nordic cooperation has historically been successful at the political level. The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers have built a unique foundation of trust and collaboration. However, this cooperation has primarily focused on regulation, culture and cross-border issues. The business dimension has remained fragmented, nationally anchored and strategically underdeveloped.
This is no longer sustainable.
In practice, the current model means that the Nordic region, despite its combined resources, operates as five small economies—rather than as a unified force.
In the early development of the European Union, the European Round Table for Industry played a decisive role by giving industry a collective voice in shaping the single market. The Nordic region has lacked an equivalent structure – a critical instrument for transforming cooperation into competitiveness.
Nordic Compass represents an attempt to fill this gap. But its real significance lies not in its existence, but in its consequences. If taken seriously, it implies a shift from Nordic cooperation based on dialogue to cooperation based on joint strategic action.
The need is particularly evident in four areas:
- Defence and security – large-scale procurement creates a unique opportunity to build a Nordic defence industry with real scale. Without coordination, both capacity and demand risk fragmentation.
- Artificial intelligence – the region has all the necessary components, but lacks integration. The result is a set of strong nodes, but no system-leading position.
- Capital markets – despite geographic proximity and institutional similarity, markets remain nationally segmented, limiting both capital access and efficient allocation.
- Energy systems – Nordic energy structures are inherently complementary, yet not fully utilised as an integrated strategic asset.
What these areas share is not a lack of ideas, capital or competence – but a lack of coordination and scale.
At the same time, global competition for talent is intensifying. Countries such as Singapore, Australia and Canada act strategically and in a coordinated manner. In many respects, the Nordic region has stronger structural advantages – but lacks a sufficiently clear and unified positioning.
This is where the real challenge lies.
The Nordic problem is not potential – it is the ability to organise it.
Nordic Compass therefore represents more than a new forum for cooperation. It is a test: can the Nordic region move from being a well-functioning region to becoming a strategic actor?
If the answer is yes, the foundations for a new form of regional competitiveness are in place. If the answer is no, the Nordic region risks remaining precisely what Carney implicitly warns against – a group of strong, but individually too small, economies in an increasingly polarised world.
The timing is striking. Over the past year, the authors of this article have compiled experience and ideas related to this challenge in the book “The Nordic–Baltic Edge: Trust, Collaboration, Innovation, Growth”, to be published in September. The book analyses the interplay between trust, institutions and industrial collaboration as a foundation for long-term competitiveness.
But the conclusion is already clear:
The future of the Nordic region will not be determined by what it is now – but by what it is capable of becoming together.
Christer Asplund & Jorgen Eriksson