The period from the 1990s to the present is one of globalization with new kinds of region building and new kinds of regional identities taking form, on both macro and micro levels.The breakdown of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War reduced the geostrategic importance of Northwest Russia, but at the same time stimulated transnational co-operation across the former Cold War barrier between East and West in the northern areas. The Barents Euro-Arctic Region was established in 1993 and the Arctic Council in 1996. At the same time, Finland and Sweden became part of the European Union, while Norway and Iceland remained outside. The turn of the twenty-first century also saw the strenghening of national minorities and indigenous rights within the framework of European and international regulations.