The Further Shores of Finlandization

Abstract

Maude, G. The Further Shores of Finlandization. Cooperation and Conflict, XVII, 1982, 3-16.

This article first traces the origin of the controversial term 'Finlandization'. It is noted that the most vociferous proponents of Finlandization theory have been people with little first-hand knowledge of Finland. Rather, the fundamental problem that seems to worry them is the effect of detente, which they have seen as Soviet advancement by other means. One essential feature of the Finlandization theory is that Finnish experience is torn out of its context and thrown into a world of generalized experience. Yet certain factors make Finland sui generis, especially the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union. No other Western or Northern European parliamentary democracy has a treaty of this kind nor is likely to have one. Moreover, many of the phenomena in Finland that are often compre hended as being directly due to the impact of the Soviet Union on Finland are in fact the result of other causes, relating to deep problems of Finnish society and national character. At its deepest level the theory of Finlandization, imprecise and overloaded as it is, nevertheless ought to lead us to consider one basic moral problem: the trust a democracy is expected to exhibit towards the foreign and security policy made in its name by the decision-makers.