The article argues that the way status is pursued in social groups in world politics is contingent on the type of social relations that constitute interaction between the members. The Nordic region is a group of countries marked by friendship and trust. Here, the numerous societal linkages between the Nordic countries have made their region into a ‘friendly neighborhood’. This has changed the way that these countries pursue status. To explore this status dynamic, the article draws on a series of interviews with Nordic diplomats and argues that a strong friendship both enables collective status seeking, and constrains individual status seeking. Specifically, turning their social group into a friendly neighborhood allows the Nordic countries to posture as a collective polity and seek status on behalf of it. This grants them more status recognition in world politics. Moreover, friendship does not eliminate status rivalry, but it does turn it into a friendly kind of status competition. Indeed, while the intra-regional intensity of the competition endures, the article finds that the Nordic countries are unlikely to compete in ways that might harm their friendship or their neighborhood.

中文翻译：

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在友好的北欧社区寻求身份

该文章认为，世界政治中社会群体追求地位的方式取决于构成成员之间互动的社会关系的类型。北欧地区是一个以友谊和信任为标志的国家集团。在这里，北欧国家之间的众多社会联系使他们的地区成为“友好邻里”。这改变了这些国家追求地位的方式。为了探索这种身份动态，本文借鉴了北欧外交官的一系列采访，并指出，牢固的友谊既可以促进集体地位的寻求，又可以限制个人地位的寻求。具体来说，将他们的社会团体变成一个友好的社区，可以使北欧国家冒充集体政治并代表其寻求地位。这使他们在世界政治中享有更多地位。而且，友谊并不能消除地位竞争，但是确实可以将友谊变成一种友好的地位竞争。的确，尽管区域内的竞争持续存在，但文章发现北欧国家不太可能以损害其友谊或邻国的方式进行竞争。