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Overview
People are involved in negotiations throughout their lives. Whether it be arranging a time to meet, resolving a disagreement, setting up a contract - the scenarios are endless. Negotiation skills are intrinsically related to common sense, mutual respect and creativity. Without these skills the resort to conflict is pre-determined.
There are multiple tasks to raise an awareness of basic negotiation competence. A contract negotiation task that examines the fundamentals of negotiation. Then two cases from the Cold War– Night Frost and the Note Crisis taken from Finnish history during the 1950s/60s that elucidate two key foundations of successful negotiation strategies – BATNA and Positions v Interests.
B.6. Reading Contract Negotiation (Look at this before doing the Readings below). The Tasks and Answer Key/Pointers/Sources are in Theme H in the drop-down menu at the top of this page.
Finlandisation (Read this before doing the Readings below)
Finlandisation is defined by Collins Dictonary as the “neutralization of a country in terms of its allegiance to the superpowers, in the way that the Soviet Union rendered Finland neutral and friendly without making it a satellite state or requiring that it adopt Communism…it is a neutral status pursued as a deliberate act of policy by a lesser power.”
Finlandisation has evoked a myriad of emotional responses and not least dismay by many Finns. Former Prime Minister Lipponen denied the existence of both the term and concept (Arter 1998). It has been seen as a paradox (Majander, 1999), as a myth (Singleton 1981), as an instrument of statecraft, as a form of neurosis (Medvedev, 1999) or as the renowned political commentator William Buckley Jr as a case of ‘herpes’ (Buckley, 1983). It has also been used as a lens through which to evaluate the crisis in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion in 2022 (Juntunen, 2017).
Finland has certainly been resilient. Whilst the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact have evaporated, this small country has remained steadfast. This permanence might be attributed to a foreign policy that accommodates the reality of having Russia as a neighbour. Whilst Finlandisation might have provided problems in terms of national image, curtailment of freedoms enjoyed by Western states and a subdued foreign policy, the policy also provided opportunities. Even during the Cold War, Quester was noting the relative advantages of Finland’s position vis a vis the experience of the Baltic and East European states (Quester, 1990).
Whilst Finns want to disclaim the term because of its negative associations with a lack of sovereignty (Morgenthaler, 1980), the influence of Russia on all levels of life in Finland and policy determinants cannot be denied. In the aptly titled article ‘Lenin lives in Finland,’ Krekola (2008) refers to how this is revealed in the proliferation of Russian symbols in the Finnish cultural landscape. (Contrast this to the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Yle 14.6.2022. Finland’s last Lenin monument removed from streets of southern city).
At all levels of abstraction, the Finns have been true students of Machiavelli in adopting an astute policy line that delicately treads the balance between the superpowers, at least during the cold war (Rentola, 2000, p. 96; Kangas, 2011, p. 56). Finnish policy-making has recognised that it has had to modify foreign policy objectives and internal freedoms to reflect the reality of living in the shadow of a great power. Two episodes highlight how this was realised in Finnish-Soviet relations:
Reading Night Frost (Look at this before doing the tasks)
Reading Note Crisis (Look at this before doing the tasks)
Think About:
“The use of the term ‘Finlandisation’ – whether in or out of context – is considered offensive in Finnish foreign policy discourse” – Alexander Stubb
“Politics have no relations to morals” – Niccolo Machiavelli
“Finlandisation is the ultimate insult to a country that was forced to compromise its democratic values in the face of an aggressor” – Alexander Stubb
“All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter” – Edmund Burke
Materials Updates/News:
Periodically, materials will be updated, or there may be news items worthy of attention related to this Unit. They will be notified here. If you come across any news/resources, e.g. journal/newspaper articles relevant to the content of this website, please let me know. I can be contacted via the email address below.
In the context of the declassification of files in the USA, an interesting document is Lee Harvey Oswald's visit to Helsinki
Bailes, A. (2012). The Nordic Countries from War to Cold War – and Today. Scandinavian Journal of History 37(2): 156-163.
Lounasmeri, Lotta 2013: Through Rose or Blue and White Glasses? Decades of News about Soviet Union in the Finnish Press. Nordicom Review 34(1):105–123.
Nevakivi, J. (1997). Kekkonen, the Soviet Union and Scandinavia: Aspects of Policy in the Years 1948-1965. Scandinavian Journal of History 22(2): 65-81.
Palosaari, T. (2013). Still a Physician rather than a Judge? The Post-Cold War Foreign and Security Policy of Finland. Swiss Political Science Review 19(3): 357-375.
Written in 2014, some interesting scenarios identified. Always make sure you check the background/context of the authors/publishers:
Autio-Sarasmo, S. (2014). A Nation Flat on its Face? Fenno-Soviet Relations During the Cold War. Publication for the Committee for the Future 9(2014). Parliament of Finland.
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