Conference background, past conferences
The conference continues and develops a project that the Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies has initiated in 2010, aiming at investigating, comparing and describing the relations, encounters, intersections, confluences, mutual influences and/or parallels between the Nordic and Baltic Sea areas, on the one hand, and the Black Sea region, on the other hand. The project was structured in annual international conferences usually taking place in late May. Thus, the first conference, entitled “Romania and Lithuania in the Interwar International Relations: Bonds, Intersections and Encounters” was held on 19-21 May 2010 and concentrated, as the title suggests, on the present and historical relations between two countries belonging to these two areas. The second and the third editions of the annual ARSBN conference enlarged their scope, being entitled “The Black Sea and The Baltic Sea Regions: Confluences, influences and crosscurrents in the modern and contemporary ages” (May 20-22, 2011) and respectively “European Networks: the Balkans, Scandinavia and the Baltic World in a Time of Economic and Ideological Crisis” (May 25-27, 2012).
During its three editions, the ARSBN conference addressed fundamental problems within the current agenda of the Nordic, Baltic and Black sea states and contributed with fresh ideas and innovative research results to the general knowledge in the scientific field. Moreover, the conference advanced draft proposals useful to the European decision-makers of different fields.
While the participants to the first two editions of the conference concentrated rather on the historical dimension of the relations, the third edition brought together specialist from various fields (political science, economics, IR, minority studies etc.) and addressed, besides the historical aspect of relations, aspects relevant to the present time, i.e. the current global economic crisis, the Balkan organized crime in Nordic Europe, the minorities in the Baltic Sea area and in the Balkans.
The 2013 conference invites applications from consecrated and young specialists, theorists and practitioners in the most various fields: education, cultural studies, history, IR, political science, economics etc. The 2013 edition of the conference aims at investigating, but also encouraging the intra- and inter- regional exchanges and cooperation.
The conference has developed very fast, each edition bringing together more participants, well known specialist in their fields, from over 20 countries and over 35 institutions. At its third edition, the conference reached a high level of quality, becoming already a very important event in the field of Nordic and Baltic studies.

Aims of the Conference:
Conference general topic description:
After centuries of nation-building, the world has entered a period of region-building searching for cultural encounters, social and economic development and political cohesion and stability. Today large part of Europe is involved in the European integration project. Nevertheless, the current global economic crisis has also generated debate regarding not only the future expansion of the EU, but the viability of the European project itself, and states involved in the European integration scheme or those pursuing their integration seem to deepen their ambitions.
The EU integration has become the primary conceptual and normative model in the global proliferation of regional integration, but in the course of the last two decades other regional initiatives, associations and structures – in the political, economic, cultural, environment, security etc. fields – have emerged in Europe, especially in the Baltic Sea, North Sea and Black Sea regions. In this context, sometimes regional agendas intersected with the European ones.
However, we encourage not only the inter-regions comparisons and analyses, but also the intra-regions analyses in the most diverse fields – education, art, culture, media, security, environment, international politics, economy etc. While the Baltic and North Sea areas are generally considered pioneer regions in the development of regional integration and identity, the Black Sea Region is often regarded as a laggard in terms of regionalization and region-building.
This conference aims to address problems such as the relation between the EU integration framework and the Baltic, North and Black Sea regional structures; the historic development of these regional initiatives and/or organizations and the relations among them; the interplay between empire-building, region-building, national/nationalist, cultural construction discourses present in these regions, comparisons between the three regions.
The conference approaches the North in the wider perspective of regional cooperation intra- and extra-Nordic muros. The North is regarded as a springboard of regional cooperation which has a strong though faltering historical and cultural background and an obvious European dimension. The downfall of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the process of European integration (whether some of the Nordic countries belong to the EU or not, they are all part and parcel of the process and deeply affected by it) have encouraged the development of regional cooperation in Northern Europe. Belonging to the Northern dimension of the EU meant not only maintaining a regional identity with deep roots in history and culture and making the others acknowledge it, but also strengthening the influence of Nordic countries within and outside the EU and fostering other regional cooperation initiatives in the Baltic Sea area and outside it. Patterned on the Nordic regional cooperation, the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia strengthened their regional cooperation and envisaged deepening their ties to surrounding areas, especially with the Nordic countries. Alongside the Nordic countries, they also gradually turned into a model for the Danubian and Black Sea countries.
Regional cooperation is the unwanted child of empires. The empire-building process is one of the most debated research topics, and reaching a consensus among researchers in this regard can hardly be foreseen. Historians, political scientists, IR theorists, geographers and geopoliticians have given different answers as about the engines of empire-building process and its consequences. What is an empire? How does it emerge? What is the role of empires in IR? Is there a distinctive empire ideology? What is imperialism? How do empires reach their decline and collapse? How have empires changed throughout the centuries? If sometimes empires resemble each other in a certain period of time when seen from outside, when looking at empires from within, at micro-level, one can see how much the patterns, structures, articulated interests, perceptions of power and authority differ. There is no consensus even on fundamental issues such as how an empire can be defined, i.e. according to various criteria employed Sweden was described as a kingdom or an empire, and similar disputes arise regarding Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. However, we believe that we can broaden our perspective of empire-building when looking at the issue from a larger geographical and cultural perspective of the Nordic, Baltic, and Black seas areas. We can also understand the networks created within empires which later sought to re-knot their cooperation among the emerging sovereign states, often leading to various forms of regional cooperation such as, for instance, the Little Entente and the Baltic League.
In some instances, region-building and empire-building process is blurred and not infrequently empires or large political constructions emerge from region-building initiatives driven by domestic or external challenges as it happened with Poland and Lithuania in the 14th century, with Sweden in the 17th century or with Germany in the 19th century. In fact, this is one of the favored arguments of Eurosceptics who perceive the EU in the same light as these empires. The conference aims at taking a closer look at this topic and setting it within the Nordic, Baltic and Black seas framework.
However, the focus of our introspection is not merely political or diplomatic cooperation. Educational, cultural, commercial or social cooperation networks are also within the range of our interests. The conference is also future-oriented and seeks at contributing to understanding the stakes of regional cooperation for the development of societies in the geographical areas it covers.
In this respect, the conference will address themes such as:

- The empire-building, region-building, national/nationalist, cultural construction discourses present in these regions
- The historic development of these regional initiatives and/or organizations and the relations between them
- Political, cultural and diplomatic relations between Baltic and/or Nordic states, on the one hand, and the Black Sea countries, on the other hand
- The relations between the EU integration and different Baltic, North and Black Sea regional structures
- Education and leadership in the context of regionalization in the Baltic Sea and Black Sea areas
- Education and leadership: between tradition, challenges and perspectives
- Educational projects: bridges between the Baltic Sea and Black Sea areas
- Linguistic unity and diversity in Scandinavia and the Baltic states
Nordic and Baltic identity through cultural diversity
- Inter- and intra-regional comparisons

Selected papers presented at the conference will be published in the journals:
• Revista Româna de Studii Baltice si Nordice / The Romanian Journal for Baltic and Nordic Studies: http://www.arsbn.ro/RRSBN.htm
• Valahian Journal of Historical Studies: http://www.valahianjournal.info
In addition, the possibility of publishing a thematic volume at Cambridge Scholars Publishing is also envisaged.

Conference Schedule and Deadlines:
Proposals of panels and roundtables (approx. 500 words): October 15, 2012
Abstracts of individual papers (approx. 300 words): November 15, 2012
Notification of acceptance based on abstracts evaluation: December 15, 2012 – January 15, 2013
Submission of conference papers: April 15, 2013
Early publication of the conference program: March 1, 2013
Final publication of the conference program: May 1, 2013
Conference: May 24-26, 2013
Submission of final conference papers: June 15, 2013
Publication of conference papers is envisaged for December 2013

Submission and evaluation of conference applications
Individual paper proposals must include three items:
Contact information: the name, email, postal address and academic affiliation of
the applicant
A 300- to 500-word abstract with the title of the paper
A maximum 500-word bio
Individual proposals featuring more than one author must include
the contact information and biographies of all authors and specify whether all co-authors intend to attend the conference
Panel proposals must include three items:
Contact information (see above) of all proposed panelists.
The title of the panel and a 300- to 500-word abstract of each paper.
The biographies of all panelists
Proposals can also be sent for roundtables and book presentation panels. The same three elements apply.
Submissions shall be sent in pdf, doc or docx files via the EasyChair system:
https://www.easychair.org/account/signin.cgi?conf=arsbn2013
All submissions will be evaluated by two anonymous members of the academic and selection committee of the conference according to the following criteria:
overall impression
academic quality
contribution to the theme tackled
scientific rigour
the quality of English language used
the assessment of biographies
overall recommendation
The conference papers shall follow our submission guidelines: http://www.arsbn.ro/submission-guidelines.htm
The evaluation of the final papers will obey the external double-blind peer review process: (http://www.arsbn.ro/peer-review-process.htm).
The conference registration fees
The conference registration fee will be waived for all participants. Applications have been submitted in order to cover the transportion and accommodation expenses of all panelists or at least of selected participants based on individual grants (notification will be made in due time to all applicants). The keynote speakers transportation and accommodation expenses will be covered by the organizers.
Conference organizers (others still to confirm):
The Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies

Ovidius University of Constanta
Embassy of Finland, Bucharest
Embassy of Lithuania, Bucharest
Embassy of Norway, Bucharest
Consulate of Latvia, Bucharest
Consulate of Estonia, Bucharest

Sponsor (still to confirm):
Organizing Committee:
Honorary Chair of the Organizing Committee:
H.E. Dr. Vladimir Jarmolenko, The Ambassador of Lithuania in Bucharest, Honorary President of the Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies (others to confirm);
The Organizing Committee (others to confirm):
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Florin Anghel, The Vice-Rector of Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gabriel Ghorghiu, Valahia University of Targoviste (Romania)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Laura Ghorghiu, The Vice-Rector of Valahia University of Targoviste (Romania)
Dr. Crina Leon, "Al.I. Cuza" University of Iasi (Romania)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Silviu Miloiu, The President of the Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies (Romania)
Lecturer Dr. Emanuel Plopeanu, The Dean of the Faculty of History and Political Sciences, Ovidius University of Constanta (Romania)
Dr. Bogdan Schipor, "A.D. Xenopol" Institute of History of Iasi, The Chairman of the Nordic Section of the Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies (Romania)
The Secretary of the Organizing Committee
Elena Dragomir, University of Helsinki (Finland)
The webpage of the conference: http://www.arsbn.ro/conference-2013.htm

Past conferences
http://www.arsbn.ro/conferences.htm
http://www.arsbn.ro/conference-2011.htm
http://www.arsbn.ro/conference-2012.htm

Contact information:
For further assistance, please contact the organizers of the conference at:
Address: Dr. Silviu Miloiu, Valahia University, Lt. Stancu Ion St., No. 33, 130105 Targoviste, Romania, Tel. (004) 0724403094, Fax (004) 0345 819714, E-mail: conference (at) arsbn.ro