The nuclear dimension of deterrence has returned to the forefront of international security concerns. In recent months, the United States and Russia abrogated the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty, and Russia suffered two fatal, and still mysterious, accidents involving its military nuclear programs. Outside Europe, China rejected trilateral arms control talks with the United States and Russia, North Korea resumed testing of short-range ballistic missiles, and Iran responded to renewed US sanctions by selectively breaching provisions of the 2015 multilateral deal intended to preclude its acquisition of a nuclear weapon. Given such realities, this seminar seeks to inform and stimulate further debate on how best to deter conflicts that can directly threaten global peace and security, posing grave risks to Finland’s security, sovereignty, and its most important institutions and values.
The seminar marks the publication of the final report of a FIIA-led research project, ‘New challenges for strategic deterrence in the 21st century’, funded by the Government Plan for Analysis, Assessment and Research for 2018. The report is entitled “Strategic deterrence redux: nuclear weapons and European Security”.
