Still a Physician rather than a Judge? The Post‐Cold War Foreign and Security Policy of Finland

Abstract

AbstractThis article seeks to explain some of the key changes in Finnish foreign and security policy since the end of the Cold War. Finland's peace policy during the Cold War built on a self‐image of a neutral bridge‐builder between East and West, that is a ‘peacekeeping superpower’ and a ‘physician not judge’ in world politics. Since that Finland's neutrality has been replaced with a peculiar combination of military non‐alignment and commitment to the European Union's common security and defence policy. A change has taken place from traditional peacekeeping to military crisis management led by the EU and NATO. Lately, Finland has started to build a profile in the field of peace mediation. This article argues that these changes have been enabled by a recalibrated understanding of small stateness, as Finnish identity has been adjusted from small‐state neutrality towards ‘member‐state alignment’ and ‘small‐EU‐member‐stateness’. Consequently, the Finnish physician approach has been reconstructed for the post‐Cold War world.