Finland, geopolitical image of threat and the post-cold war confusion

Bibliographic Data

ID3948859
AuthorsSami Moisio (0000-0002-9202-1380, University of Turku, corresponding author)
Year1998
Volume3
Issue3
Pages104-124
Publication date1998-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650049808407630
OpenAlexW2080987226
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited18

This paper describes the ability of the modern state to reproduce the state idea in the post‐Cold War Europe. The concept of the geopolitical image of threat is presented as a discursive tool used in mastering the internal space of a state. A state idea based on a geopolitical image of threat is suggested to have been a medium with which the alliance between the Finnish state and nation was historically constructed. By excluding threats linked to the public enemy ‐ the existence of which is crucial for the very existence of the state ‐ the state prevents the breakdown of societal order and strengthens its own idea. In the 1990s the represented geopolitical image of threat possessing the potential of breaking the Finnish societal order includes several factors, all linked to the excludable other, Russia. The represented threat is composed of refugee flows, Russian crime, environmental pollution, the possible return of Communism, a strong Russia, a weak Russia, military attack and many other features linked to Russia and posing a negative challenge to Finnish society. As a security‐political discourse the geopolitical image of threat is thus remarkably fine‐textured and dispersed, but this is exactly why it is so descriptive of the identity project and the confusion characteristic of the post‐Cold War era

Adversary · Alliance · Communism · Computer security · Confusion · Economics · Excludability · Geopolitics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public good · Refugee · Sociology · European and Russian Geopolitical Military Strategies · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics

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