Country: Finland 
Director: Mika Aaltola
Website: http://www.fiia.fi/en
Contact: Registration Office
The Finnish Institute of International Affairs is a Helsinki-based independent research institute that produces high level research to support political decision-making and public debate both nationally and internationally. Its three research programmes are:
- The EU research programme (director Juha Jokela). The European Union research programme focuses on the European External Action Service, EU’s external representation, Common Foreign and Security Policy, Common Security, Defence Policy, neighbourhood policy and energy security. The programme addresses the relations between external and internal security by focusing on terrorism and radicalization as well as related institutional development and decision-making.
- The EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia research programme (director Arkady Moshes). The programme studies the Eastern European environment with a special focus on Russia’s domestic and foreign policy. In particular, the programme concentrates on political developments in the region, the dynamics of policy-making: actors, networks and shifts in interests and power. It also studies international relations in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood and the relationship between the region and the EU, especially development of the EU’s Eastern Partnership with Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- The Global Security research programme (director Mikael Wigell). 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, global challenges, such as the climate change, the role of the transatlantic relationship in world politics, and the different dimensions of the European security policy.
In addition, the Institute has several on-going projects which transcend the boundaries of the research programmes. For instance, the Institute launched a peace mediation project in order to enhance debate, research and awareness of peace mediation in Finland.
The Institute was established by the Parliament of Finland in its centennial plenum in June 2006 and the Parliament also provides the Institute’s basic funding. The Institute is autonomous in its research activities and is governed by a nine-member Board, assisted by an Advisory Council and a scientific advisory council. All FIIA publications can be downloaded from the institute’s website free of charge.
FIIA researcher Juha Jokela is a member of the TEPSA Board.
Latest News:
- “Trump’s Attack on American Democracy: Towards a New Model of Electoral Manipulation in an Established Democratic Republic”, Maria Annala (FIIA, Finland)
- “EU Strategic Autonomy in the Shadow of Geopolitical Rivalry: A View from Moscow”, Sergey Utkin (FIIA, Finland)
- “Myanmar’s generals recoup: The Recurrence of Military-Defined Disciplined Democracy”, Bart Gaens (FIIA, Finland)
- 2020 Global Go to Think-Tank Index: TEPSA once again confirmed as one of the leading think-tank networks in the world
- “President Joe Biden and the restoration of US global leadership: Turning the tide?”, Ville Sinkkonen, Charly Salonius-Pasternak, Bart Gaens and Niklas Helwig (FIIA, Finland)
- “China’s policy towards Belarus and Ukraine: A limited challenge to Sino-Russian relations”, Ryhor Nizhikau and Marcin Kaczmarski (FIIA, Finland)
- “How Tunisia’s En-Nahda crafts Islamist politics: From programmatic failure to neo-Islamist framing”, Wolfgang Mühlberger (FIIA, Finland)
- Policy Paper on EU Lead Groups published within the Horizon 2020 project EU Idea Work Package 5 led by FIIA (FIIA, Finland)
- “An Abrupt Awakening to the Realities of a Pandemic: Learning Lessons from the Onset of Covid-19 in the EU and Finland”, Mika Aaltola, Johanna Ketola, Aada Peltonen and Karoliina Vaakanainen (FIIA, Finland)
- “European migration and border management: Future reforms reassert symbolic solidarity”, Saila Heinikoski (FIIA, Finland)
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