Legal obligations of the UN Security Council
Photo by Jeffrey Zeldman / Flickr / Creative Commons 2.0

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.

The stalemate on the Korean Peninsula
Photo: NASA

The stalemate on the Korean Peninsula

Briefing Paper 180

No light in sight on the Korean Peninsula: Lingering threats and regional responses

The situation on the Korean Peninsula remains highly unpredictable and continues to pose a major threat to regional stability and global security. Geo-political and geo-economic competition prevents the neighbours of North Korea from forming a united front with or without the US. New confidence-building measures, such as those launched by South Korea, only offer a glimmer of hope for rapprochement in the longer term, Jyrki Kallio and Bart Gaens argue in a new Briefing Paper.

Russia's hybrid war in Ukraine
Photo: Robin Koskas / Flickr / Creative Commons 2.0

Russia's hybrid war in Ukraine

Report 43

Russia's Hybrid War in Ukraine: Breaking the Enemy's Ability to Resist

The form of warfare Russia employed in Ukraine in 2014, often called hybrid war, has been aimed at defeating the target country by breaking its ability to resist without actually launching a full-scale military attack. Hybrid war is built on the combined use of military and non-military means, employing basically the whole spectrum of a state’s policy inventory. In a new FIIA Report, András Rácz asks whether the Russian hybrid war is a universal warfare method deployable anywhere.

FIIA Comment

Preparing Finland for hybrid warfare

Charly Salonius-Pasternak & Jarno Limnéll

EU's climate policy in transition
Photograph by Alfred T. Parker / Library of Congress

EU's climate policy in transition

Briefing Paper

A Turning Point in the EU’s Climate Policy? Carbon capture and the third period of the emissions trading scheme

The scope of the global climate policy is changing towards the post-2020 situation and the stringent regulation of carbon-intensive activities. A more ambitious climate policy is needed because global climate change shows no signs of abating – on the contrary, it seems to be worsening. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the solutions associated with the success of the EU’s emissions trading scheme. The latest FIIA Briefing Paper by Jarkko Levänen examines the prospects of Carbon capture technologies as a part of the EU’s climate policy.

Ukraine's challenges
Photo by jamesbwerk / Flickr

Ukraine's challenges

Briefing Paper

The war and reforms in Ukraine: Can it cope with both?

Arkady Moshes examines the challenges faced by a war-torn Ukraine in the latest FIIA Briefing Paper. The military conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine is the main factor determining also the internal political situation in the country. On the one hand, as long as the conflict calls for national consolidation and strengthens the understanding that only a reformed Ukraine may hope to endure, the war should drive the transformation. On the other hand, the conflict poses a major impediment to the changes, not only because it is a drain on resources, but even more so because it tempts Ukraine to blame its own inaction on “objective difficulties”.

The US Congress and war powers
Photo by Roman Boed / Flickr

The US Congress and war powers

Working Paper

The US Congress and decision-making on war: Debates on war powers in the separation of powers system

Anna Kronlund's Working Paper focuses on the topical debates on the war-making powers of the US Congress and the President. President Barack Obama’s actions in relation to Libya (2011), Syria (2013), and more recently the "targeted” actions against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, have raised discussions about the powers of the President as the Commander-in-Chief vis-à-vis the powers of Congress. If and when should the President seek congressional authorization for the use of US armed forces?

FIIA Comment

The Republicans gain the upper hand

Mika Aaltola

FIIA Comment

Passing the Arctic Council torch to the US and beyond

Juha Käpylä & Harri Mikkola

Support for separatists in Eastern Ukraine is costly to Russia
Photo by OSCE / Evgeniy Maloletka

Support for separatists in Eastern Ukraine is costly to Russia

FIIA Analysis

Not Another Transnistria: How sustainable is separatism in Eastern Ukraine?

The situation in Eastern Ukraine is often compared with that of Transnistria, the separatist region of Moldova. However, the two cases differ for a number of reasons, all of which will make the “Novorossiya” project much harder for Russia to sustain than Transnistria. First and foremost, unlike Transnistria, the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in their current shape will be unable to influence the everyday political and economic functioning of Ukraine. Senior Research Fellow András Rácz and Programme Director Arkady Moshes compare the separatist regions of Eastern Ukraine to Transnistria in the latest FIIA Analysis.

EU sanctions against Russia
Photo by Emiliano / Flickr.com

EU sanctions against Russia

Briefing Paper

EU sanctions against Russia: Europe brings a hard edge to its economic power

Kristi Raik, Niklas Helwig and Juha Jokela argue that the EU has responded to the Ukraine crisis with a set of political and economic sanctions against Russia which constitute a qualitatively new step in the EU sanction policy. The EU sanctions against Russia are exceptional and have strategic importance due to a combination of three factors: big power rivalry, the context of a major European crisis with global ramifications, and the costs of the sanctions for the EU itself.

FIIA Comment

A pause in the conflict in Ukraine

Arkady Moshes

Eurasian Economic Union facing an uphill struggle
Photo: the Presidential Press and Information Office of Russia

Eurasian Economic Union facing an uphill struggle

FIIA Analysis

The Eurasian Economic Union: Breaking the pattern of post-Soviet integration?

The Eurasian Economic Union between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, due to come into effect from January 2015, consolidates a market of 170 million people with a combined GDP of almost 3 trillion US dollars. On paper, the union has the potential to transform economic relations in the region and to offer an alternative to the EU in the post-Soviet space. However, weak institutions and large asymmetry between member states are continuing to hinder closer ties and the crisis in Ukraine had led to an increasingly hostile international environment. Hence, the Eurasian Economic Union faces an uphill struggle to maintain momentum and deliver the results member states desire, the latest FIIA Analysis argues.

Once a month

UPI Breakfast Briefing

Breakfast Briefings deal with topical EU affairs which have implications for Finns and Finland.

News, 22.10.2015

Joel Toivola Foundation Centennial Prize to Senior Research Fellow Jyrki Kallio of the FIIA

Jyrki Kallio, Lic.Phil., has been awarded the Centennial Prize of the Joel Toivola Foundation as recognition for his merits in the field of China research. The Foundation commends Kallio especially for his ability to connect China’s long history with contemporary issues. In addition, the Foundation considers Kallio to be one of the most prominent translators of Chinese literature into Finnish.

News, 21.10.2015

Juha Jokela's recent article about BREXIT

Program Director at the Institute Juha Jokela wrote an article to a publication entitled "BREXIT: What Fair Deal between UK and EU Member States?". It was published on October 20th. ​

News, 20.10.2015

Pynnöniemi's recent article on the Russian security doctrines

Senior Research Fellow at the Institute Katri Pynnöniemi has written an article that was published on October 12th in Russian Analytical Digest (nr. 173). Dr. Pynnöniemi analyses the Russian security doctrines in her article.

EILEN - Archive and Chronology of Finnish Foreign Policy

The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) maintains an online archive Eilen which consists of speeches and key documents related to Finnish foreign policy. In addition, the site features a chronology detailing the most significant events in Finnish foreign policy since 1973.

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The European Union

The European Union

The European Union research programme focuses on the EU's global and regional role, including the internal dynamics of the Union. The main research themes are the EU's external relations and institutional development.

The EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia

The EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia

The EU's Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia research programme studies the EU's eastern environment with a special focus on Russia's domestic, foreign and security policy. In particular, the programme concentrates on political developments in the region and the process of the Eurasian integration. It also studies international relations in the EU's eastern neighbourhood and the relationship between the region and the EU.

Global Security

Global Security

The Global Security research programme approaches global security challenges within the framework of broad security. The programme seeks to understand the global trajectories of security that have significance for the European and Finnish security environments. The issues approached include the prospects for global governance systems, changes in the major power structure, significant factors in functional and regional security and insecurity, the role of the transatlantic relationship in world politics, and the different dimensions of the European security policy.

The Center on US Politics and Power

The aim of the Center on US Politics and Power is to provide research and expertise on the US global role and its foreign and domestic policy. The Center works in conjunction with the Global Security Programme at the FIIA and was established in 2013. FIIA's US research is supported by the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation.