Matti Pesu is a Senior Research Fellow in the Finnish foreign policy, Northern European security, and NATO research programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). From May 2022 to April 2023, he led a research project analyzing Finland’s nascent NATO policy and the country’s evolving role in Euro-Atlantic security. Since the beginning of 2023, Pesu has been leading FIIA’s Nordic network.
Pesu has worked at FIIA since 2017 as a Visiting Fellow, Research Fellow, and Senior Research Fellow. He has also worked at Tampere University, the European Commission, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. In 2012–2018, he was actively involved in the leading Finnish online magazine on international politics, The Ulkopolitist¸ most recently as a Managing Editor.
He has published extensively on Finnish foreign, security, and defence policy, defence cooperation, Baltic Sea security, and Euro-Atlantic security. Pesu’s writing has been included in publications such as War on the Rocks, the National Interest, and Diplomacy & Statecraft. He is a frequent commentator on Finnish and Northern European security matters, and, in addition to the Finnish and Nordic media, he has provided analysis for the Wall Street Journal, BBC, Newsweek, Reuters, and the Associated Press, among others.
Pesu completed his PhD on the role of ideas in Finnish foreign policy at Tampere University in 2019.
Expertise
Finnish foreign, security and defence policy, Euro-Atlantic security, Northern European security, Foreign Policy Analysis
Degrees
PhD (International Relations), Tampere University, 2019
Language skills
Finnish, English (working languages), Swedish, German
Finnish foreign, security and defence policy, Euro-Atlantic security, Northern European security, Foreign Policy Analysis
Positions of responsibility
Managing editor, The Ulkopolitist, 2016–2018
Secretary, Nordic International Studies Association, 2015–2020
Representative, Foundation for Foreign Policy Research 2021–
Work experience
Researcher & Doctoral Candidate (International Relations), University of Tampere 2014–2017
Intern, European Commission, Helsinki, 2013
Intern, Embassy of Finland in Vienna, 2012
Research Secretary, Tampere Peace Research Institute, 2011
Degrees
PhD (International Relations), Tampere University, 2019
Language skills
Finnish, English (working languages), Swedish, German
Arctic regionArms control and non-proliferationBaltic Sea regionChinaEuropeFranceNatoRussiaSecurity and Defence PolicyUnited KingdomUnited StatesFIIA Report
Finnish foreign policypandemicSecurity and Defence PolicySwedenE Publications intended for the general public
Pesu, Matti (2020).
Finland.
In
Björn Fägersten
ed(s):
The Nordics and the New European Security Architecture.
Stockholm:
Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
Finnish foreign policyNordic cooperationSecurity and Defence PolicyD Publications intended for professional communities
Pesu, Matti & Juntunen, Tapio (2019).
Luottamus kansainvälisissä suhteissa.
In
Bäck, Maria; Kestilä-Kekkonen, Elina
ed(s):
Poliittinen ja sosiaalinen luottamus: Polut, trendit ja kuilut .
Helsinki:
Valtiovarainministeriö.
252-271.
DemocracyEconomic policyEuropean UnionFinnish foreign policyUND Publications intended for professional communities
Finnish foreign policyE Publications intended for the general public
Pesu, Matti (2016).
Kun pienvaltiorealismin hegemonia murtui: suomalaiset ulkopoliittisen koulukunnat kylmän sodan jälkeisen ajan alussa.
Politiikka, 59 (4):280-297.
