Continuity and Change in the Finnish Debate on Peacekeeping

In the 1990s when the international community faced new challenges and thereby ‘peace support operations’ became the dominant concept, Finland – like other traditionalists – had to adapt to the new approach. The adaptation has been rather smooth because there is considerable continuity in the Finnish peacekeeping discourse over the 50-year period, and government and media have consistently maintained the self-image of a peacekeeping ‘superpower’. Finnish legislation has been revised several times in order to enable its participation under changing conditions. Keywords: peacekeepingpeace support operationsFinnish foreign policyUnited Nations Notes 1. ‘Statement by H.E. Mr. Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland’, 57th General Assembly, General Debate, 14 Sept. 2002 (www.un.int/finland/speech%20Tuomioja%20GAgeneral%20debate14092002.html). 2. The early phases of Finnish debate are here based on, especially, Klaus Törnudd, Suomi ja Yhdistyneet Kansakunnat [Finland and the United Nations], Helsinki: Tammi, 1967; also on Pekka Autti and Osmo Apunen, Yhdistyneiden Kansakuntien rauhanturvajoukot [The UN Peacekeeping Forces], Helsinki: Tammi, 1966; Lauri Koho, ‘Kansainvälisten ristiriitojen ratkaiseminen ja rauhanturvatoiminta’ [The Settlement of International Conflicts and Peacekeeping], in Arja Kekkonen, Pasi Natri and Raimo Väyrynen (eds), Rauha ja oikeudenmukaisuus. YK:n neljä vuosikymmentä [Peace and Justice. The Four Decades of the United Nations] Helsinki: Tammi, 1984, pp.41–66; Jarl Kronlund, ‘Suomalainen rauhanturvatoiminta Suezilta Makedoniaan’ [Finnish Peacekeeping from Suez to Macedonia], in Petri Kekäle (ed.) Sinibaretista sinikypärään [From Blue Berets to Blue Helmets], Helsinki: Maanpuolustustiedotuksen suunnittelukunta, 1996, pp.27–34; and Klaus Törnudd, ‘Pakolla ja vartioiden – analyysi YK:n rauhanturvatoiminnan kehityslinjoista Lähi-Idästä Jugoslaviaan’ [By Enforcement and Observation – An Analysis of the UN Peacekeeping Trends from Middle East to Yugoslavia], in Kekäle (ed.), pp.19–25. 3. Törnudd 1967 (see n.2 above), pp.82–3. 4. Kronlund (see n.2 above), p.29; Törnudd 1967 (see n.2 above), pp.84–5. 5. Quoted in Törnudd 1967 (see n.2 above), p.86. 6. Jaakko Blomberg, ‘Katsaus lehdistön suhtautumiseen Kyproksen suomalaiseen YK-joukkoon’ [A survey of the attitudes of the Finnish press towards the Finnish UN troops in Cyprus], in Autti and Apunen (eds), (see n.2 above), pp.121–45. 7. The quotations are from the editorials of Helsingin Sanomat (Helsinki), 6 Mar. 1964, 7 May 1964; Hufvudstadsbladet (Helsinki), 5 May 1965 respectively, cited by Blomberg (see n.6 above), pp.137, 139–40. 8. Autti and Apunen (eds) (see n.2 above), p.120. 9. Regarding Ahtisaari's role, see Jaakko Iloniemi, ‘Martti Ahtisaari: A New Kind of President for An Era of Change’ (www.valtioneuvosto.fi/tpk/eng/persons/iloniemi.html). 10. Suomi ja YK:n rauhanturvatehtävät. Ulkoasiainministeriön asettaman työryhmän raportti [Finland and the Peacekeeping Missions of the United Nations: The Report of the Working Group of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs], Helsinki: Ulkoasiainministeriö, 30 Nov. 1989. 11. Ibid., p.2. 12. Ibid., p.19. 13. Ibid., pp.28–9. 14. Ibid. 15. Note by the President of the Security Council, UN doc. S/21323, 30 May 1990. 16. See, Suomi YK:n turvallisuusneuvoston jäsenenä 1989–90 [Finland as the Member of the UN Security Council in 1989–90], Helsinki: Ulkoasiainministeriön julkaisuja, 11 Nov. 1991; Törnudd (see n.2 above), pp.19–25. 17. See UNIS/SG/1310, 2 March 1995; Elisabeth Rehn, Puheenvuoro Sinibarettiliiton rauhanturvaamisseminaarissa [Statement in the Peacekeeping Seminar of the Blue Berets Union], 16 Sept. 1993, Helsingissä (mimeo.). 18. Philip Wilkinson, ‘Sharpening the Weapons of Peace: The Development of a Common Military Doctrine for Peace Support Operations’, ISIS Briefing Paper No.18, 1998 (www.isis-europe.org/isiseu/english/no18.html), p.2. 19. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peacekeeping. New York: United Nations, 1992, p.26. 20. Yhdistyneiden Kansakuntien yleiskokous 1987 [The Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly 1987], Helsinki: Ulkoasiainministeriön julkaisuja 1988. 21. Ibid., p.236. 22. Wilkinson (see n.18 above), p.2. 23. Martti Ahtisaari, ‘YK uusien haasteiden edessä’ [The UN Facing New Challenges], Maanpuolustus No.51, 1991, pp.8–12. 24. Esko Aho, Puhe Maanpuolustuskorkeakoulun avajaisissa [Statement at the Opening of the National Defence University], 14 Jan. 1993, Ulkopoliittisia lausuntoja ja asiakirjoja 1993 [Foreign Policy Statements and Documents 1993], Mikkeli: Ulkoasiainministeriön julkaisuja, 1994, pp.332–3. 25. Elisabeth Rehn, ‘Rauhaan tavalla tai toisella’ [To Peace – One Way or the Other], Helsingin Sanomat, 17 Feb. 1993. 26. Helsingin Sanomat, ‘Työryhmä sallisi YK-sotilaille rajoitetun asevoiman käytön’ [The Working Group Would Allow Limited Right to Use Force for UN Soldiers], 16 Sept. 1993. 27. Ibid. 28. Pertti Torstila, ‘Rauhanturvaamisen diplomatia’, esitelmä Suomen Sinibarettiliiton rauhanturvaseminaarissa [The Diplomacy of Peacekeeping, a Statement in the Peacekeeping Seminar of the Blue Berets Union], Helsinki 16 Sept. 1993 (mimeo.), pp.6–7. 29. Ibid. 30. Kari Höglund, ‘Finnish contribution to peacekeeping’, (http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/peace.htm), 1998, p.38. 31. See e.g., Max Jakobson, ‘Demokratioita ei voi jättää tyrannien armoille’ [Democracies must not be left at the Mercy of Tyrannies], Helsingin Sanomat 16 Sept. 1993; Rehn (see n. 25 above); Torstila (see n.28 above). 32. Hallituksen esitys Eduskunnalle laiksi Suomen osallistumisesta Yhdistyneiden Kansakuntien ja Euroopan turvallisuus- ja yhteistyöjärjestöön perustuvaan rauhanturvatoimintaan annetun lain muuttamisesta sekä eräiksi siihen liittyviksi laeiksi [Government's Proposal Regarding Amendments to the Law on Finland's Participation in the UN and OSCE Peacekeeping Operation and Other Related Laws], HE 20/2000 vp. p.12. 33. Ibid., p.11. 34. Rauhanturvaamislaki, literally meaning ‘The law on peacekeeping’, but on the MoD English web-pages it has also been referred to as the Act on Peace Support Operations, see ‘General Information – Nordic Peace 2003’ (http://tietokannat.mil.fi/np03/ex_general.php). No new term was introduced to translate ‘peace support operations’ into Finnish because ‘peacekeeping’ was from the start translated as rauhanturvaaminen in Finnish, and while the English ‘keeping’ may have a connotation of just passive ‘maintenance’, the word turvaaminen in Finnish has a much more active connotation. Its root word turvata literally means to ‘guard’, ‘assure’, ‘support’, and the respective noun turva has the meaning of both ‘security’, ‘safety’ and ‘support’. Turvallisuus – denoting both security and safety – has no implicit military connotation. Hence, at this stage, there was no obvious need to find a new Finnish word for ‘peace support’. 35. The four documents respectively: Rauhanturvaamislain uudistamistyöryhmän mietintö 2005[Report of the Working Group to Revise the Peacekeeping Law]; HE[Goverment's Proposal] 110/2005 vp; HE[Goverment's Proposal] 5/2006 vp; and Laki sotilaallisesta kriisinhallinasta [Law on Military Crisis Management], Suomen säädöskokoelma, No. 211/2006. 36. Rauhanturvaamislain uudistamistyöryhmän mietintö (see n.35 above), pp.8–9. 37. Ibid., pp.4–5, 8–10. 38. Marjatta Rasi, ‘United Nations, national policies and regional organizations – an Un-even match?’, statement by Permanent Representative of Finland, H.E. Ambassador Marjatta Rasi, International Peace Academy, 2003 New York Seminar ‘Regional Approaches to Conflict’, West Point, NY. 39. Regarding the overall impact of the EU membership on Finland's foreign policy, see Unto Vesa, ‘Finland in the UN as an EU state’, Northern Dimension, Yearbook 2001, Forssa: The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 2001, pp.59–71. 40. See e.g. Maanpuolustustiedotuksen suunnittelukunta. Tiedotteita ja katsauksia [The Planning Commission of Defence Information. Reports and Surveys] 1/2002, 16 Dec. 2002, Table 17. 41. Erkki Tuomioja, ‘On Crisis Management Goals’, an interview in OSCE Review: European Security, No.2, Vol.8, 2000, pp.1, 10–11. 42. Erkki Tuomioja, ‘Demokratia lyömässä läpi Afrikassa’ [Democracy Taking Root in Africa], interview in Uutispäivä Demari (Helsinki), 5 Nov. 2003. 43. Tuomioja (see n.1 above)

Peacekeeping · Political science · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · Peacebuilding and International Security · Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics · Public Administration

• Introduction to Special Issue

  Open Access•Laurent Goetschel•Swiss Political Science Review•2013

  Add to list

• Transformed beyond recognition? The politics of post-neutrality

  Open Access•Christine Agius•Cooperation and Conflict•2011

  Add to list

• Reliable Professionals, Sensitive Dads and Tough Fighters

  Anne Mäki-Rahkola, H Myrttinen•International Feminist Journal of…•2013

  Add to list

• Parliament as an arena for politicisation

  Open Access•Tapio Raunio•The British Journal of Politics…•2018

  Add to list