Finland and Sweden in NATO – Nordic perspectives

Mika Aaltola is the Director of FIIA. Dr Aaltola is also a professor of International Relations at Tallinn University, Estonia, and holds the rank of docent at Tampere University. He has been a visiting fellow at Cambridge University, Sciences Po (CERI), and Johns Hopkins as well as a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota. His areas of expertise include the global role of the U.S., the dynamics of power politics, and Finnish foreign policy. His latest published monograph is titled “Democratic Vulnerability and Autocratic Meddling – The ‘Thucydidean Brink’ in Regressive Geopolitical Competition” (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2021).

Kristian Fischer is the Director of the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). Before his post as director, he has acquired substantial experience from international positions, including the Danish Delegation to NATO in Brussels. Before DIIS, he held the position as Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Danish Ministry of Defence, where he headed the Security Policy Division. Mr. Fischer holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Aarhus and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Australian National University.

Dr Iro Särkkä is a political scientist and foreign and security policy expert on Finland and NATO. Her areas of expertise include foreign policy analysis, Nordic, European and global security, multilateral co-operation and questions of political behaviour. Särkkä holds both a PhD and a Master’s degree in political science from University of Helsinki, and is also a graduate from University College London (UCL), UK and Science Po Lille in France. In her doctoral thesis “Rhetoric of NATO in Finland’s Security Policy Debate” (2019) she focused on studying changes in Finland’s security policy and NATO during the post-Cold war period. More recently, her research interests have included studying and conceptualizing national identity change in small states as well as securitization theories. Särkkä is currently employed as a Senior Advisor at the University of Helsinki and has previously worked as a Researcher and Special Adviser in the Finnish Defence Forces. At present, she also actively engages in public debate on Finland, NATO and global security.

Eva Hagström Frisell is a Deputy Research Director at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). She is heading FOI’s program on Northern European and Transatlantic Security and was co-editor of FOI’s reports on Western Military Capability in Northern Europe 2020. Her expert areas include security and defence policies of European states, military cooperation in Europe and international operations. Eva has previously served as an Analyst at the Ministry of Defence and as a Strategic Advisor to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB).

Matti Pesu is a Leading Researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. His research interests include Finnish foreign, security and defence policy, Northern European security, and Euro-Atlantic security. Currently, Pesu is leading FIIA’s in-house research project on Finland’s evolving role in Euro-Atlantic security.