ISHA Bucharest Conference 2015 Lauri Heinonen

Workshop 5: “From isolation to integration” Tue 31st March 2015

The abstract or outline of my workshop presentation in ISHA

Bucharest Conference 2015

The comparison of the Finnish and Swedish integration into the West with the
Central Europe

At first, I`ll start by explaining the major lines of the Swedish and Finnish history until the 20th century,
including the formation of a centralized state and the period of great power. This is important as it`s highly
likely that the other participants have quite limited knowledge into the matter. Even though I don`t make
so much comparison with the Central Europe yet at this stage, an important point here are the factors that
made Finland a state and a nation during the era under Russian rule between 1809-1917. We can discuss
these factors further in the discussion after my presentation.

Next I`m going to look into the development of Central Europe, Finland and Sweden between the World
Wars. Here I`ll focus on what was essential for democratic and affluent progress during this period. Why
were Finland and Czechoslovakia the only states emerged from fallen empires that didn`t become
authoritarian? I will discuss the factors that varied in different countries, and I will emphasize the importance of
economic progress, social equality and a legitimate government that is engaged in decreasing conflict in the
society. The Finnish example shows well that should these, at least all, not be present, they can be attained with
a deconflicting and appeasing policy. And integration thus has its role in here in many ways.

The third part of my presentation will address the integration of Central Europe, Finland and Sweden during
the Cold War. My key point is that Sweden, avoiding the Second World War, was more integrated to the
West despite its alleged neutral position while Finland was balancing under Soviet pressure despite its all
increasing integration with the West. The Central European integration was instead of more a cultural
nature than of a political. What`s interesting here was the importance of cultural elite in many countries
during the transition from communism to democracy.

This leads to the present and lets us see how the integration of these countries especially into the EU and
Nato has gone. How is the history present in the taken policies and what can we expect to come in the
future? An interesting point is the status of Finland and Sweden in the intensifying political situation of
Europe as they have chosen a different security policy. How do they conflict with the rest of the EU and
what are the expectations of the different member states? Besides offering one or few explanations, this is
an other point where I would love to hear the opinions and notions of the other participants of the
workshop, as this theme requires a broader knowledge and understanding than any of us have.