An Interview with Teija Tiilikainen, Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)

1 Sep 2014

This month, we talk to Teija Tiilikainen, who is the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) in Helsinki. In our discussion with her, Ms Tiilikainen first describes FIIA’s mission, which primarily focuses on conducting research on global security, Russia, and the EU and its Eastern Neighborhood. She further notes, however, that last year FIIA established a Center for US Politics and Power, which has quickly filled a local and regional void in understanding US policies and political processes. Third, Ms Tiilikainen highlights a recent FIIA report which explores the ongoing shift away from traditional geopolitics towards a broader, more fluid global architecture based on 'flows'. Finally, she comments on the prospects of Finland joining NATO anytime soon, particularly given current developments in Ukraine.

The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) provides high quality research on international relations and the European Union. Could you please elaborate on FIIA’s mission and the issues that primarily interest you?

FIIA is the only research institute in Finland that has a broad mandate to cover international politics and EU affairs. Although it is mainly funded by the Finnish Parliament, the institute is both independent and has its own governing board. It also has more than thirty researchers that basically focus on three areas: the EU, the EU’s eastern neighborhood and Russia, and global security. The researchers, along with the visiting scholars that work with them, strive to ensure that the Institute’s work is internationally credible and provides policy-relevant information for decision-makers and civil society, both in Finland and the EU.

Last year, FIIA established the Center for US Politics and Power. Tell us more about the Center’s research agenda.

The goal of the new center, which is generously funded by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, is to enhance the analytic work done on the United States in Finland, particularly when it comes to the former’s international policies and responsibilities. In practical terms, this means that the center conducts an exchange program whereby FIIA invites scholars from the US to visit the institute and contribute to its research. Second, the center runs a summer school and related activities than strengthen contacts and networks in US studies. Third, it contributes to a steady stream of FIIA policy briefs on various elements of US foreign policy, including its use of soft power and the domestic dynamics of the policy-making process. (In the last case, we’ve focused a considerable amount of attention on the relationship between the President and the Congress.) Finally, the center provides FIIA a platform for US studies and makes it financially possible for its own scholars to make longer visits to universities and research institutes in the United States.

A external pagerecent FIIA report argues that we are currently witnessing a global shift towards the “geopolitics of flows.” What exactly does this geopolitical transformation entail and what are its implications for Finland?

The concept of flows – and flow security – refers to all of the different interdependencies that are emerging in contemporary world politics, many of which are not particularly reliant on traditional forms of geopolitical power. The flows can be visible (trade or immigration) or invisible (cyber flows or information), but what really matters is how dependent you are on them, how powerfully they affect you, or how able you are to manage them. In other words, your vulnerability to or mastery of flows represents a new system of power in the world. It’s a system that points to forms of strength and resilience that deviate from traditional territorial power, etc. From both a Finnish and European perspective, incidentally, the concept of flows has been very helpful in FIIA’s study of maritime security, which is available along with other in-house studies on our website.

The crisis in Ukraine has stoked a new debate about the possibility of Finland joining NATO. Is that a realistic prospect in your opinion?

Finland’s NATO membership continues to balance on domestic political winds. At present, two of the three biggest parties in the country are opposed to joining the Alliance. It’s only the conservative National Coalition Party, which is the leading party in government at the moment, and the minor Swedish People’s Party that are in favor of NATO membership. Many leading politicians have argued that the decision should be subordinated to a nation-wide referendum, even if a constitutional obligation doesn’t exist for it.

For additional information please see:
external pageMore about FIIA
external pageTowards the Geopolitics of Flows: Implications for Finland
external pageFIIA Comments
external pageFinnish Journal of Foreign Affairs

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