Opinion|Reader’s opinion
The country’s defense capability is based on a strong national economy. Finland’s Achilles heel is its dependence on world trade.
In Finland has a rightfully good reputation as a country where defense and security policy is taken seriously. Finland has not disarmed, has not abolished conscription and has good defense readiness. Once NATO membership is secured, the biggest threat is the risk of diminishing self-criticism.
Terrestrial defense capability is based on a strong national economy. Finland’s Achilles heel is its dependence on world trade. This applies to everything from the country’s security of supply, especially energy, to high-tech know-how. The risk of this dependence is that the country may come under the threat of economic coercion by foreign powers.
The “naive” phase of globalization is history. Instead, economic power politics or “geoeconomy” is a paradigm that is now shaping the global economic order.
In short, geoeconomics involves the realization that markets do not exist apart from political interests. Rare minerals, energy, social media, critical technologies, and financial infrastructure are all examples of phenomena that can be “weaponized” and used for “rent-seeking” purposes.
In Finland there are good conditions to become a pioneer in the geoeconomy. Finland is at the forefront of geoeconomics research and education. The Foreign Policy Institute has been researching the geoeconomy in Finland long before the phenomenon became global, and in June it received a multi-year geoeconomy research grant from the Academy of Finland. This autumn, Aalto University will also start Finland’s first university course in geoeconomics.
Despite this, there are concerns.
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Finland has good conditions to become a pioneer in the geoeconomy.
First of all, political circles do not have enough intuition for economic power politics. A common mistake is to equate the geoeconomy with economic warfare, such as sanctions against Russia.
However, the geoeconomy is also important in relations with friendly countries such as the EU and the United States. This is still an unknown and sensitive topic for many, but it shouldn’t be. The biggest dependency is the euro and the EU’s new industrial policy. The geoeconomy is therefore not only about conflicts, but also about “legal” competition and cooperation. Geoeconomy is ultimately closely related to democratic decision-making and political autonomy.
Second the private sector does not know enough about the principles and analysis tools of geoeconomics. It is about geo-economic risk management, so that Finnish companies can survive in a world dominated by economic power politics, but it is also about geo-economic opportunities, because economic power politics is practiced not only by states but also by private actors. Finnish companies must learn to compete geo-economically or risk being marginalized.
Jens Hillebrand Pohl
assistant professor, Maastricht University, The Netherlands,
future Visiting researcher at the Institute for Foreign Policy
The reader’s opinions are speeches written by HS readers, selected and edited by the HS editorial staff. You can leave an opinion piece or familiarize yourself with the principles of writing at the address www.hs.fi/kiryotamielipidekeisuis/.
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