Finland's president Sauli Niinistö recently advocated a conference comparable to the 1975 Helsinki conference that created the CSCE, and spoke for a renewal of the "Helsinki spirit" as a solution to Europe's and the world's problems. What is this "Helsinki spirit", and what kind of role did Finland have in developing it and working in the CSCE? More generally, what can be the role of small states in developing mechanisms of collective security and international cooperation? In order to answer those questions, our project will study Finland's policy in the CSCE 1975-1994 (when the CSCE became the OSCE). It will emphasize the role of neutral and non-aligned small European states as drivers of cooperation and change. The project is based on archival research in recently opened material, cooperation with Finnish institutions, and active international cooperation in order to clearly situate Finland's actions in the CSCE and the place of the CSCE in Finland's diplomacy.

2024

2027