US foreign policy beyond 2016

FIIA Report 46

After Rebalance: Visions for the future of US foreign policy and global role beyond 2016

The foreign policy of the United States has often been seen as oscillating between an isolationist perspective and interventionist tendencies. This fluctuation between minimalism and maximalism allows future foreign policy to be evaluated, if one can correctly diagnose which phase of the supposed back-and-forth movement the US is currently in. A new FIIA Report, edited by Mika Aaltola and Anna Kronlund, examines visions for the future of US foreign policy and global role beyond 2016.

Russia's strategy of deception

Report 45

Fog of Falsehood: Russian Strategy of Deception and the Conflict in Ukraine

A new FIIA Report edited by Katri Pynnöniemi and András Rácz analyses Russian propaganda and disinformation – here collectively called strategic deception – concerning the conflict in Ukraine. The case studies of the report examine the emergence of pre-formulated Russian metanarratives and concepts in various EU countries. Despite similar methods the Soviet propaganda was anchored in ideological truth claims, while the contemporary Russian variant can be compared to a kaleidoscope: a light piercing through it is instantly transformed into multiple versions of reality.

German leadership in the EU

Report 44

Europe’s New Political Engine: Germany’s role in the EU’s foreign and security policy

The economically strong Germany has become Europe’s new political engine. It has become an unlikely and unusual foreign policy leader, which still differs in various aspects from traditional foreign policy powerhouses. The latest FIIA Report, edited by Niklas Helwig, analyses the way in which Germany took up its new role and the implications that German leadership has for the EU’s foreign and security policy.

Energy Geoeconomics

Briefing Paper 191

Dividing the EU with energy? Unpacking Russia's energy geoeconomics

Russia’s economic ideology is increasingly based on its national security interests instead of modernisation or free trade. Russia’s use of its energy resources as a means of enhancing its strategic influence in its neighbourhood and the EU can be analysed as energy geoeconomics, Toivo Martikainen and Antto Vihma argue.

East Mediterranean Political Prospects

Working Paper 90

Turkey's political direction: Authoritarianism, liberal democracy or dissolution?

After the re-run of the parliamentary election on 1 November 2015, it is certain that Turkey will again be ruled by the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) one-party government. Based on this premise, Toni Alaranta's study provides a future-oriented analysis in the form of three scenarios: 1) an authoritarian Islamist state; 2) a consolidated liberal democracy; and 3) the dissolution of the Turkish state.

Russia in crisis mode

FIIA Analysis 6

Zugzwang in slow motion? The implications of Russia’s system-level crisis

The upsurge in Russia’s foreign political and military activity should be understood as a reaction to several internal and external setbacks that the Russian system has suffered in recent years. As a result, the Russian leadership has switched on a crisis mode that legitimises exceptional measures in both foreign and domestic policy. The latest FIIA Analysis has been co-authored by Veera Laine, Toivo Martikainen, Katri Pynnöniemi and Sinikukka Saari.

Will the Paris climate conference deliver?

Briefing Paper

Paris Stress Test: Can the UN climate talks deliver?

How the Paris agreement is perceived in the public eye has consequences for later events – in terms of good and bad publicity, political pressure, momentum, and hope. In more concrete terms, it will have impacts on countries’ political opportunities to strengthen their national contributions, as well as on the credibility of the UN climate regime as a whole, Senior Research Fellow Antto Vihma argues in a FIIA Briefing Paper.

Legal obligations of the UN Security Council

FIIA Analysis 5

Can the Law Help? Debating Security Council Inaction on Syria

The inaction of the UN Security Council with respect to the Syrian crisis has generated widespread aversion. Scholars of international law have, however, debated whether the Security Council could be legally obliged to act in respect of a mass atrocity crisis. Although this emerging position is controversial, it shows that the argumentation in connection to Security Council inaction is toughening up through increased resort to hard law. Senior Research Fellow Katja Creutz analyses the discussion concerning the legal obligations of the UN Security Council.

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