The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) is an independent research institute affiliated with the Parliament of Finland. FIIA studies Finnish foreign policy, international politics, global economic relations and the European Union.
FIIA operates under the Act on the Institute for International Relations and European Union Affairs (29.6.2006/544). The Institute is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors, and has an Advisory Board and a Scientific Council.
FIIA’s mission is to produce high-quality research, support policymaking, and participate in both academic and public debates in Finland and internationally.
Research at FIIA
Research at the Institute is mainly carried out in research programmes which are defined for a three-year research period at a time. Four separate research programmes have been decided on for the period 2023-2025:
- Finnish Foreign Policy, Northern European Security and NATO
- The European Union and Strategic Competition
- Russia, EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood and Eurasia
- Global Security and Governance
Read more about FIIA’s research plan for the 2023-2025 period:
FIIA publishes its research results in various formats. FIIA produces around 60 publications each year, while the total number of publications per year by FIIA’s researchers is around 300.
FIIA organises around 80 events each year on recent FIIA publications and topical international issues. Two major annual events are FIIA Forum and Helsinki Security Forum.
FIIA publishes Ulkopolitiikka magazine, the Finnish Journal of Foreign Affairs, which focuses on politics, economics and international affairs. FIIA also maintains a specialised library.
FIIA researchers in the media
The Institute’s researchers contribute to public and academic discussions on topical issues by writing for newspapers, magazines and journals, by participating in both national and international conferences and other events, and by providing commentary and analysis to the media.
FIIA’s researchers comment on current issues based on their own research and expertise. The Institute does not have an official position on issues of international politics.
FIIA welcomes fact-based and critical discussion on its social media channels. FIIA does not tolerate unlawful, derogatory or offensive content and comments. Accounts that repeatedly post such content may be blocked and inappropriate comments may be deleted. We attempt to answer topical and appropriate questions and comments during office hours.
Library
The FIIA library is a specialised facility which supports the Institute’s research activities and whose collections are at the disposal of anybody interested in international relations and foreign policy.
The library contains over 24 600 volumes. It subscribes to or receives on an exchange basis some 200 periodicals and newspapers. Older annual volumes of periodicals are kept in the Institute’s archives or sent to the National Repository Library.
The collections focus on the topics of Finnish foreign policy, international politics, changes within Europe, Finland’s neighbouring regions, and disarmament.
Books, but not periodicals, can be borrowed. The borrowing period for books is four weeks. Interlibrary loans are confined to sending article copies only.
The library does not maintain regular opening hours. Customers are advised, instead, to always make an appointment before their arrival.
The library’s book collections are catalogued into a PrettyLib library system. An article database for incoming periodicals was updated 1995-2017. The databases are not available outside the Institute.