Nordic Review of International Studies
type: channel
description: The Nordic Review of International Studies (NRIS) publishes peer-reviewed scholarly contributions within the field of International Relations (IR), focusing specifically on Nordic perspectives. The NRIS is committed to publishing articles that examine the international sphere empirically, theoretically, or institutionally from a Nordic angle. The NRIS is edited by Dr Johanna Vuorelma (University of Helsinki), Dr Sanna Salo (Finnish Institute of International Affairs), and Dr Ville Sinkkonen (Finnish Institute of International Affairs).
publisher: Finnish International Studies Association
language: en
publication name: Nordic Review of International Studies
issn: 2954-2553
copyright: License Terms Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
items: Editorial
items: Arctic research infrastructures between normative ideals and geopolitical objectives
items: Mitigating black carbon emissions from gas flaring and Arctic maritime shipping
items: Decolonising Arctic geopolitics and security
items: The Arctic Fable and the Unbearable Question
items: Imagining peace and producing knowledge about the war in Ukraine
items: Naturalising nuclear deterrence
items: Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: The Brown-Red Cocktail
items: Russian informational campaigns and NATO in the Arctic
items: Adieu neutrality
items: Reimagining crisis management
items: Becoming allies
items: Shaping Security
items: Asmus strategic vision makes a comeback
items: Nationalist justifications of realist policies
items: The Peace and Security Implications of Climate Change for the Nordic Region
items: Nordic, European, or Atlanticist?
items: NATO’s Nordic enlargement
items: The Nordic carceral system
items: Continuity over change, institutions over innovations, organised over organic
items: Finnish Orientation(s) towards Europe and the West
items: The United Nations and Nordic identity
items: The FISA2022 Conference brought together scholars to discuss multilateralism and its ruptures
items: Book review: Conspiracy Theories and the Nordic Countries.
items: US progressives and NATO
items: NATO and climate security
items: NATO’s strategic thinking in the changing security environment

Editorial
type: item
subject: Special Issue: Politics of the Arctic
  topic: section
subject: Editorial
  topic: category
creator: Johanna Vuorelma
creator: Sanna Salo
creator: Ville Sinkkonen
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Johanna Vuorelma, Sanna Salo, Ville Sinkkonen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-12
publication date: 2025-06-12

Arctic research infrastructures between normative ideals and geopolitical objectives
type: item
description: This discussion article explores how both scientific and security considerations are embedded in Arctic research infrastructures. It suggests that both normative ideals and geopolitical objectives can be identified in the discourses and practices surrounding the physical constructions, objects and technologies used for environmental or climate related knowledge-building in the Arctic. This has implications for developing appropriate policies that comprehensively acknowledge the science-security nexus without undue securitisation or bias. In drawing attention to the interface between Arctic science and security, and how such concerns are materially embedded, this discussion article argues that new assemblamatic approaches could allow for more relevant Arctic scientific and security related policymaking. New perspectives are needed to move beyond binary dichotomies that view Arctic politics through either normative or geopolitical frameworks. The article calls experts and academics to further address questions on the configuration of the Arctic science-security nexus, as well as on the extent to which Arctic science and security policies are mutually entangled rather than mutually exclusive.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: Arctic security
  topic: keywords
subject: assemblage theory
  topic: keywords
subject: infrastructure
  topic: keywords
subject: knowledge
  topic: keywords
creator: Aleksis Oreschnikoff
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Aleksis Oreschnikoff https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-12
publication date: 2025-06-12

Mitigating black carbon emissions from gas flaring and Arctic maritime shipping
type: item
description: The Arctic region and Russia, the major emitter of greenhouse gases, are facing effects of climate change faster than the rest of the world. Evidently, climate change and adoption to it will shape Russia’s future, and vice versa, regardless of who or what kind of a government is in power. This includes addressing the problem of black carbon and other short-lived climate pollutants from hydrocarbon industry and maritime shipping in the Northern Sea Route accelerating climate warming, with harmful effects on air quality, ecosystems and human health. Drawing on insights of international relations literature, this article examines conceptualisations of illiberalism, illiberal environmentalism and their contemporary versions in Russia, and discusses how these frameworks can be applied to understand Russia’s policy choices regarding climate change and the Arctic since the invasion in Ukraine in February 2022 and considers prospects for post-war Arctic collaboration. It finds that these conceptualisations when carefully contextualised help to identify ideational underpinnings intertwined with national interests in policy texts and illuminate connections to societal beliefs held by Russian conservatives and indicate authoritarian and illiberal practices guiding policymaking and implementation. Post-war international collaboration among climate scientists is viewed as worth pursuing, and perhaps essential, to mitigate Arctic warming.
subject: Full articles
  topic: section
subject: Peer-Reviewed Article
  topic: category
subject: Arctic
  topic: keywords
subject: Arctic Council
  topic: keywords
subject: black carbon
  topic: keywords
subject: climate change
  topic: keywords
subject: emissions
  topic: keywords
subject: illiberalism
  topic: keywords
subject: Russia
  topic: keywords
subject: Ukraine war
  topic: keywords
creator: Minna Hanhijärvi
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Minna Hanhijärvi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-12
publication date: 2025-06-12

Decolonising Arctic geopolitics and security
type: item
description: Ongoing geopolitical changes and the “arctification” of world politics are introducing new pressures on the Sámi people, whose lands stretch across the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. While climate change has increased global and national interest in the Arctic region’s natural resources and logistical and transport potential already for some time, today land use in Sápmi is reshaped also by acute security and defense imaginaries which are promoting strong military build-up across the region. In this article, I discuss the challenges that these changes are presenting to the Sámi and to their ability to voice concern for their own rights, security and future. Focusing especially on the challenges associated with the energy transition as well as growing military land use, the article sketches out and introduces a notion of subaltern security dilemma (SSD), which is offered here as a tool for a critical, deconstructive and decolonial approach to the study of Arctic geopolitics and security in Sápmi and more broadly.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: green colonialism
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous rights
  topic: keywords
subject: militarisation
  topic: keywords
subject: NATO
  topic: keywords
subject: Sápmi
  topic: keywords
subject: security dilemma
  topic: keywords
subject: subalternity
  topic: keywords
creator: Laura Junka-Aikio
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Laura Junka-Aikio https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-12
publication date: 2025-06-12

The Arctic Fable and the Unbearable Question
type: item
description: This discussion article addresses the means and matters that constitute a claimed entity known as ‘the Arctic’. A polemic, poetic and problematising reading of the Arctic is conducted by using different parables, metaphors and literature displaying elephant as their centrepiece. They enable to illustrate the Arctic as a subjective aspect, disciplinary practice, product of power and knowledge, and imaginary lost object. These conditions are finally addressed with the unbearable question, formulated to either liberate or burden the ones who are the practitioners of Arctic studies.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: The Arctic
  topic: keywords
subject: science
  topic: keywords
subject: discipline
  topic: keywords
subject: knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: power
  topic: keywords
creator: Joonas Vola
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Joonas Vola https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-06-12
publication date: 2025-06-12

Editorial
type: item
subject: Special Issue: Nordic perspectives on Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine
  topic: section
subject: Editorial
  topic: category
creator: Johanna Vuorelma
creator: Ville Sinkkonen
creator: Sanna Salo
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Johanna Vuorelma, Ville Sinkkonen, Sanna Salo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Imagining peace and producing knowledge about the war in Ukraine
type: item
description: After two and half years of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, experts around Europe are increasingly tempted to picture peace in Ukraine and security in post-war Europe. Peace researchers have a few useful principles to guide the way. The legacy of Johan Galtung proposes that not just any peace is better than conflict. The kind of peace that is suitable should be defined by those affected by the conflict. To support the emerging debate, this discussion article asks, what do we know about what peace means for Ukrainians? The answer is not that much. Debates about peace and security in Europe have long sidelined perspectives from the ‘periphery’ and Ukrainian voices continue to be dismissed despite the on-going war. Moscow’s perspective, in contrast, has historically been influential in shaping European debates, manifested in the silent acceptance of Russian imperialism in its self described sphere of interest. This discussion article proposes that in order to leave behind the European security order that enabled Russia’s aggression in the first place, the perspective of the ‘peripheries’ should be placed at the forefront of imagining future peace and security in Europe.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: Ukraine
  topic: keywords
subject: peace
  topic: keywords
subject: European security order
  topic: keywords
creator: Tyyne Karjalainen
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Tyyne Karjalainen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Naturalising nuclear deterrence
type: item
description: Finland and Sweden’s decisions to join NATO not only marks the end of a long period of neutrality and military non-alignment for the Nordic neighbours - they also require major shifts in their policies and self-perceptions related to nuclear weapons, disarmament, and nuclear deterrence. Drawing on a comparative research design and theory on depoliticisation, this article analyses how joining a nuclear alliance was made possible in two historical contexts marked by traditional opposition towards nuclear weapons. Comparing domestic deliberations about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and NATO membership between 2016–2022, our findings suggest that two key narratives are essential for understanding how the nuclear dimension of NATO membership was reconciled in both countries. First, ‘the virtue of (disarmament) pragmatism’ narrative centres around how the historically stratified Finnish pragmatic approach to nuclear disarmament served as a guiding principle in both countries. Second, ‘the necessity of extended (nuclear) deterrence’ narrative enabled the nuclear dimension of NATO membership to become reconciled with Finland and Sweden’s historically neutral and non-aligned policies.
subject: Full articles
  topic: section
subject: Peer-Reviewed Article
  topic: category
subject: Nuclear disarmament
  topic: keywords
subject: Extended nuclear deterrence
  topic: keywords
subject: Depoliticization
  topic: keywords
subject: Baltic Sea region
  topic: keywords
subject: NATO enlargement
  topic: keywords
creator: Tapio Juntunen
creator: Emma Rosengren
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Tapio Juntunen, Emma Rosengren https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Foreign Fighters in Ukraine: The Brown-Red Cocktail
type: item
subject: Book reviews
  topic: section
subject: Book Review
  topic: category
creator: Sofiya Voytiv
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Sofiya Voytiv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Russian informational campaigns and NATO in the Arctic
type: item
description: This discussion article presents evidence of how Russia mounts information campaigns through its press agencies to discredit NATO’s presence in the Arctic region. The analysis highlights how and when different framings of NATO’s actions in the Arctic region are disseminated by Russian press agencies. The discussion article suggests strategies to counter these campaigns as well as recommendations for policy-makers and researchers to better monitor Russian disinformation on the Arctic region.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: Disinformation
  topic: keywords
subject: NATO
  topic: keywords
subject: Information campaingns
  topic: keywords
subject: Russia
  topic: keywords
creator: Mathieu Landriault
creator: Julie Renaud
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Mathieu Landriault https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Adieu neutrality
type: item
description: With the decisions of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, a long chapter of Nordic neutrality is suddenly closed. This article examines the often misunderstood term ‘neutrality’ and the problems of finding a single definition relevant to post-Cold War politics. It then looks at the unique role and high profile that the Nordics have enjoyed in diplomacy and peacekeeping. Finally, it asks if NATO membership for Sweden and Finland is detrimental to international diplomacy and conflict resolution.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: Nordic
  topic: keywords
subject: neutrality
  topic: keywords
subject: NATO
  topic: keywords
subject: diplomacy
  topic: keywords
creator: Brendan Humphreys
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Brendan Humphreys https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Reimagining crisis management
type: item
description: -
subject: Lectio praecursoria
  topic: section
subject: Lectio praecursoria
  topic: category
subject: preparedness
  topic: keywords
subject: crisis management
  topic: keywords
subject: preparedness imagination
  topic: keywords
subject: socio-ecological crises
  topic: keywords
creator: Helmi Räisänen
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Helmi Räisänen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Becoming allies
type: item
description: This article analyses Finland and Norway’s evolving narratives about one another as neighbours, partners, and allies against the backdrop of political and scholarly discourses about the broader Nordic security community. Drawing on International Relations (IR) theories on regional security complexes and security community formation, we find that a swift reframing of the Finnish-Norwegian relationship was possible after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 because it was formulated against the backdrop of the already established narrative about the well-functioning and trustful Nordic security community. The intense interaction dynamics between Finland and Norway in recent years have brought the Nordic security community to an unprecedented level of integration, and an all-time high sense of ‘we-ness’ now characterises Finnish-Norwegian relations.
subject: Full articles
  topic: section
subject: Peer-Reviewed Article
  topic: category
subject: security community
  topic: keywords
subject: political narrative
  topic: keywords
subject: Nordic region
  topic: keywords
subject: regional security complex
  topic: keywords
creator: Matti Pesu
creator: Kristin Haugevik
creator: Katja Creutz
creator: Øyvind Svendsen
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Matti Pesu, Kristin Haugevik, Katja Creutz, Øyvind Svendsen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Shaping Security
type: item
description: The main purpose of this discussion article is to provide insight into and highlight the growing importance of citizen attitudes on security policy related issues, a largely neglected area in both public opinion and international relations research. In this article, we reflect on the role of public opinion in decision making regarding security issues and the important role it plays in policy formation in democratic states. We believe that the discussion around security attitudes is imperative not only for one’s own national defence, but also for increasing our knowledge of how solidarity can be sustained within Western democracies. This discussion article takes up some of these issues and reflects on where they might be leading, not only for Finland and Sweden, but also for Nordic cooperation and NATO in the near future.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: defence
  topic: keywords
subject: public opinion
  topic: keywords
subject: security attitudes
  topic: keywords
subject: solidarity
  topic: keywords
creator: Albert Weckman
creator: Anton Brännlund
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Albert Weckman, Anton Brännlund https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Asmus strategic vision makes a comeback
type: item
description: As the three Baltic countries embarked upon their NATO membership path, Western critics objected that these nations were militarily indefensible. To neutralise such concerns, a key NATO enlargement architect on the US side, Ronald Asmus, had proposed looking in the Nordic countries’ direction. His plan, sketched out in 1997, was to woo the Finns and Swedes to join NATO ranks, which would effectively alleviate the Baltic problem of strategic depth. At the time, Nordic leaders balked at the idea and conveyed their unwillingness to carry Baltic security burdens on their shoulders. With the recent double Nordic NATO alliance membership, it is well worth revisiting the arguments and discussions surrounding the proposal of putting Nordic countries in charge of Baltic security. Drawing primarily upon declassified US State Department materials, this article sheds light on the envisioned Nordic–Baltic security linkage and how Finnish and Swedish diplomats perceived it at the time. Subsequently, the discussion article assesses Helsinki and Stockholm’s transition from non-aligned to full NATO-member status and how this geopolitical fact may benefit the outlook of the three Baltic states.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: Baltics
  topic: keywords
subject: NATO
  topic: keywords
subject: Finland
  topic: keywords
subject: Sweden
  topic: keywords
subject: Ronald Asmus
  topic: keywords
creator: Andris Banka
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Andris Banka https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Editorial
type: item
description: The security environment in the Nordic region is rapidly changing as a result of Russia’s war of aggression, which has various political, social, and economic ramifications. The most obvious implications are to do with hard security arrangements including increasing military spending and updating security strategies across the Nordics and the Baltics. There are also identity-related implications as the Nordics needs to re-think their collective identities and relations to the neighbouring regions. The second issue of The Nordic Review of International Studies (NRIS) investigates the Nordics from the perspective of identity.
subject: Special issue: Identity and the Nordics
  topic: section
subject: Editorial
  topic: category
creator: Johanna Vuorelma
creator: Sanna Salo
creator: Ville Sinkkonen
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Johanna Vuorelma, Sanna Salo, Ville Sinkkonen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-01-18
publication date: 2024-01-18

Nationalist justifications of realist policies
type: item
description: Russia’s all-out-attack against Ukraine in late February 2022 caused a fast turnaround in Finland’s public support for NATO membership that led the political parties, which had hitherto opposed joining NATO, to reconsider their stances. I argue that those parties, via their elites, employed a realist strategy of security, bolstered by political nationalism to express unity with the population to justify their shift, in an attempt to depoliticise the issue altogether. The premise of the study thus becomes the use of nationalism in explaining states joining international organisations rather than seeing it only as a disruptive force in interstate cooperation. The study also contributes to the previous scholarship on Finnish foreign policy and its different schools of thought by examining how nationalism plays a part in the realms of security and national interest. Ultimately, the membership signals a Finnish foreign policy swing from idealism to classical realism in which Finland had hitherto been an anomaly. This study uses data collected from Finnish parliamentary parties’ council conferences held between April and May 2022, where they formulated their stances.
subject: Full articles
  topic: section
subject: Peer-Reviewed Article
  topic: category
subject: NATO
  topic: keywords
subject: nationalism
  topic: keywords
subject: political parties
  topic: keywords
subject: idealism
  topic: keywords
subject: realism
  topic: keywords
creator: Waltteri Immonen
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Waltteri Immonen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

The Peace and Security Implications of Climate Change for the Nordic Region
type: item
description: Climate-related stressors like extreme weather events, in combination with factors such as increased global rivalry for natural resources and a changing global order, will exacerbate existing vulnerabilities, and drive compounding and cascading effects. Such developments may undermine the resilience of communities and institutions also in the Nordic region and can have a negative impact on social cohesion and human security. In the Arctic region, in particular, temperature rises faster than the global, which further increases vulnerability and risks. This discussion article suggests that the Nordic countries are relatively well equipped to tackle comprehensive security risks and have adaptive capacity towards climate change. We argue, however, that far more could still be done on foresight and preparedness for climate-related security risks. In particular, the Nordic countries must strengthen their cooperation on climate security to effectively address the escalating challenges.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: climate security
  topic: keywords
subject: Nordic region
  topic: keywords
subject: climate change
  topic: keywords
subject: Nordic cooperation
  topic: keywords
creator: Kyungmee Kim
creator: Cedric de Coning
creator: Emma Hakala
creator: Tobias Etzold
creator: Minoo Koefoed
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Emma Hakala, Kyungmee Kim, Cedric de Coning, Tobias Etzold, Minoo Koefoed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-10-10
publication date: 2024-10-10

Nordic, European, or Atlanticist?
type: item
description: This discussion article explores the interplay of three distinctive but overlapping geographically driven state identities – Nordic, European, and Atlanticist identities in Finland’s official foreign policy discourse during the post-Cold War period (1995–2022). It shows that state identities are used to achieve both physical and ontological security. These geographically defined identities are mutually inclusive and complimentary in character, building on one another. The discussion article argues that even as a member of NATO, Finland should emphasise the Nordic identity, which forms the basis of Finland’s fundamental value-based security community.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: State identity, Finland, Nordicity, physical and ontological security
  topic: keywords
creator: Iro Särkkä
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Iro Särkkä https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-01-18
publication date: 2024-01-18

NATO’s Nordic enlargement
type: item
description: Prompted by Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland have undergone a paradigm shift in their foreign policies as they decided to abandon the doctrine of military non-alignment and join NATO. In this discussion article, we argue that the policy changes have been accompanied by fundamental shifts in the countries’ identities. This is particularly the case for Sweden, which long perceived itself as a ‘moral superpower’ in both foreign and domestic policy terms. A key transformation brought about by the changes in the security environment has been a reconfiguration of the relationship between Sweden and Finland. We argue that the changes in the two countries’ identities may be long-lasting, affecting the way in which Sweden and Finland perceive their positions among the Nordic countries – and the broader Western alliance.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
creator: Minna Ålander
creator: Sanna Salo
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Minna Ålander, Sanna Salo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-01-18
publication date: 2024-01-18

The Nordic carceral system
type: item
description: Scandinavian (Nordic) penal exceptionalism is a well-established body of opinion within carceral studies. It means that, judged by international standards, the prison systems of the Nordic countries are considered exceptionally humane. This article asks to what extent is Nordic prison exceptionalism a valid proposition; is the prison estate of the Nordic countries reflective of their broader societies, and if so, how does this relate to the idea of a pan-Nordic identity? The core concepts examined are collective identity, social contract, and Nordic carceral philosophy. The sources used draw from the theoretical literature about Nordic society, the established body of literature on incarceration, and expert studies on the Nordic prison systems. Conclusions largely support the positive view of Nordic incarceration but point to significant challenges to the broader Nordic welfare model.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: Nordic
  topic: keywords
subject: collective identity
  topic: keywords
subject: penal exceptionalism
  topic: keywords
subject: prison
  topic: keywords
subject: social contract
  topic: keywords
creator: Brendan Humphreys
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Brendan Humphreys https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-01-18
publication date: 2024-01-18

Continuity over change, institutions over innovations, organised over organic
type: item
description: This study approaches Nordic resilience as a continuum and a multi-level process exploring the resilience perceptions across the region. Through a mixed-methods approach combining earlier literature and a unique set of interviews collected in the Nordic countries and regions in 2021–2022, the study develops a heuristic model of Nordic resilience, which is composed of three overlapping phases: resistance, endurance, and transformation. While the study does not attempt to evaluate whether resilience to certain dangers exists either spatially or temporally, it builds a catalogue of perceived resilience elements specific to the Nordics. The research confirms that despite terminological differences, resilience perceptions across the Nordics are aligned. The identified resilience factors appear mostly at the national and international levels emphasising the state responsibility and centrality in resilience production. Simultaneously, the interviewees give little attention to the micro-level responsibility for resilience, namely the role of individuals and communities. This leads to a Nordic resilience paradox where problems with responsibility and governability of resilience are practically absent but the strengths of a resilience approach are not fully recognised as attention to bottom-up agility, innovation, and organic transformation is lacking.
subject: Full articles
  topic: section
subject: Peer-Reviewed Article
  topic: category
subject: resilience
  topic: keywords
subject: societal security
  topic: keywords
subject: comprehensive security
  topic: keywords
subject: Nordic
  topic: keywords
creator: Johanna Ketola
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Johanna Ketola https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-01-18
publication date: 2024-01-18

Finnish Orientation(s) towards Europe and the West
type: item
description: Finland’s accession to NATO in April 2023 has been celebrated as the final confirmation of the country’s western orientation, also in identity-political terms. By reviewing the Finnish approaches towards European integratory processes since the early 1990s, including the field of security, the article argues that rather than as an effort to develop a new kind of westernised identity, one should perceive this orientation as an affirmation of the traditional Finnish and Nordic, pragmatic and protestant values.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
creator: Henri Vogt
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Henri Vogt https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-01-18
publication date: 2024-01-18

The United Nations and Nordic identity
type: item
description: Support for the United Nations (UN) has been a strong priority for the Nordic states. The group has been cooperating to promote their shared values and interests since the 1960s. The Nordics have gained a reputation as do-gooders, norm advocates and strong supporters of the UN. This article studies Finland’s UN policy in the 2000s from the perspective of Nordic identity, specifically how the Finnish approach reflects the common identity within the three pillars of the UN system. On the theoretical level the article is based on the literature covering group politics and collective identity. We focus on the value-based, expressive and instrumental dimensions of Nordic identity, drawing on Finnish foreign policy documentation and interviews with key Finnish UN diplomats and policymakers. According to the findings, Nordic identity is essential for Finnish UN policy, even if there is variation in time and in policy areas.
subject: Full articles
  topic: section
subject: Peer-Reviewed Article
  topic: category
subject: Finland, Nordic identity, United Nations, norms, diplomacy
  topic: keywords
creator: Hanna Tuominen
creator: Anna Kronlund
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Hanna Tuominen, Anna Kronlund https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-01-18
publication date: 2024-01-18

The FISA2022 Conference brought together scholars to discuss multilateralism and its ruptures
type: item
description: The FISA2022 Conference was held 6–7 May 2022 in Tampere, Finland. The conference was organised at the Rosendahl Hotel in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, the Foundation for Foreign Policy Research, and Tampere University. The Finnish International Studies Association (FISA) has worked to advance the field of international studies in Finland since 1993. FISA aims at promoting multidisciplinary research, maintaining a network of active people, and providing a link between academics and practitioners within the field. To achieve these aims, FISA organises a conference every three years. The previous conferences were organised in 2016 at Aulanko, Hämeenlinna, and in 2019 at Majvik, Kirkkonummi. The conference provides a comprehensive, timely, and multidisciplinary overview of the state of International Relations and gathers researchers and policy makers.
subject: Book reviews
  topic: section
subject: Conference Report
  topic: category
creator: Finnish International Studies Association (FISA)
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Finnish International Studies Association (FISA) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2023-06-01
publication date: 2023-06-01
starting page: 70
ending page: 77

Editorial
type: item
subject: Special Issue: NATO and the Nordics
  topic: section
subject: Editorial
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creator: Johanna Vuorelma
creator: Ville Sinkkonen
creator: Sanna Salo
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Johanna Vuorelma, Ville Sinkkonen, Sanna Salo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2023-06-01
publication date: 2023-06-01
starting page: 4
ending page: 4

Book review: Conspiracy Theories and the Nordic Countries.
type: item
subject: Book reviews
  topic: section
subject: Book Review
  topic: category
creator: Niko Pyrhönen
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Niko Pyrhönen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2023-06-01
publication date: 2023-06-01
starting page: 67
ending page: 69

US progressives and NATO
type: item
description: In the past two decades, a foreign policy shift has taken place in Washington, and it is not limited to one side of the political spectrum. Voices from the left-wing of the Democratic party, or progressive Democrats, are also challenging traditional foreign policy orthodoxies, and these views are moving closer to the mainstream. The focus of this foreign policy re-examination is around US military spending in service of global dominance and (over)extended military commitments. This has important implications for European allies of the United States. An examination of progressive views reveals that US commitment to NATO in general is supported, as are the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. Not least due to a commitment to climate change mitigation and multilateralism, for Europeans in the political center and left of center, much of the progressive foreign policy agenda should be welcome. However, there is a broad and firm view that Europeans collectively should rely much less on the United States for their security – which is a prospect that European NATO countries are still far from genuinely pursuing.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: NATO
  topic: keywords
subject: US politics
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subject: US foreign policy
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creator: Rachel Tausendfreund
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Rachel Tausendfreund https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2023-06-01
publication date: 2023-06-01
starting page: 51
ending page: 57

NATO and climate security
type: item
description: In recent years, NATO has put significant effort into advancing its work on the linkages between security and climate change. In the NATO summit in Madrid in 2022, the alliance declared its climate neutrality target, and it has previously announced it aims to become a leading organisation on climate security. For the potential new NATO members Finland and Sweden, climate security can also prove to be a relevant topic through which to contribute to the agenda of the alliance, as both countries prioritise climate issues in their foreign policies. In order to provide a meaningful input to climate security within NATO, however, the countries need to shape their message beyond presumed climate security know-how. This is not to be taken as a given especially as it may be in the interest of the countries to focus on traditional military security issues rather than climate change in the NATO context. Yet by neglecting climate security altogether, Finland and Sweden risk missing an opportunity to contribute to the strategic planning of the alliance in a field of emerging importance.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: climate security
  topic: keywords
subject: NATO
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subject: Finland
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subject: Sweden
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subject: comprehensive security
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creator: Emma Hakala
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Emma Hakala https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2023-06-01
publication date: 2023-06-01
starting page: 34
ending page: 40

NATO’s strategic thinking in the changing security environment
type: item
description: Some argue that the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused NATO to change course and put more emphasis on Collective Defence, which as we know, was the initial intent of the 1949 Washington Treaty. I contest that argument by explaining that the NATO has never lost sight of this initial intent. In its Strategic Concepts NATO has always maintained Collective Defence as one of its core tasks. In response to the Russian Federation’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, it had just stepped up its efforts to be prepared to defend the Euro-Atlantic area - witness the expressions of political will at subsequent NATO Summits and the increased defense budgets of its member states.
subject: Discussion articles
  topic: section
subject: Discussion Article
  topic: category
subject: NATO
  topic: keywords
subject: Collective Defence
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subject: Strategic Thinking
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subject: Russia
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creator: Tiina Mac Intosh
rights: Copyright (c) 2023 Tiina Mac Intosh https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2023-06-01
publication date: 2023-06-01
starting page: 58
ending page: 63