Research projects in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs

As a part of the Foreign Ministry's policy planning and research activities, its Policy Planning and Research Unit carries out research projects in cooperation with Finnish and foreign partners.

Research completed in 2023

• E2-tutkimus: Kansainvälisten osaajien Suomi(Link to another website.)

• Afrobarometer: Africa's youth More educated, less employed, still unheard in policy and development(Link to another website.)

• CNAS: Charting a Transatlantic approach to Russia: A working paper of the Transatlantic Forum on Russia(Link to another website.)

Research completed in 2022

• The Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy: Disrupting the Multilateral Order? The impact of anti-gender actors on multilateral structures in Europe(Link to another website.)
• Leena Vastapuu & Minna Lyytikäinen; Gender Equality in Finnish Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2022, Independent study commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (pdf, 250 Kt, 35 pages)

Examples of partners in projects under way in 2020–2023

• Icelandic Arctic Cooperation Network(Link to another website.), Iceland
• Afrobarometer(Link to another website.), Ghana
• RUSI, Royal United Services Institute(Link to another website.), UK
• Dialogue Advisory Group(Link to another website.), Netherlands
• CFFP, Center for Feminist Foreign Policy(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), Germany
• CEOBS, Conflict and Environment Observatory(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), UK
• SNV, Stiftung Neue Verantwortung(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), Germany
• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), Germany, UK
• Women of the Arctic ry(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), Finland
• The Brookings Institution(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), USA
• Finnish Institute of International Affairs(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), Finland
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) (SIPRI), Sweden
• DiploFoundation(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), Switzerland
• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace(Link to another website.), USA
• University of Turku(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window), Finland

• Center for a New American Security, Yhdysvallat(Link to another website.)

The final reports of the most recently completed research projects are listed below. Further information about them and projects that have been completed earlier can be requested by e-mail to STU-00@formin.fi.

• Venäjä ja turvallisuus – Tutkimus- ja asiantuntijatarjonta Suomessa(Link to another website.) (only in Finnish)

• Governance Prospects in Northern Iraq and Syria (pdf, 10 pages, 535 kb) 

• DiploFoundation: The future of (multilateral) diplomacy_Changes in response to COVID-19 and beyond(Link to another website.) (pdf, 38 pages)

• UPI: Finnish foreign policy during EU membership(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) (pdf, 34 pages)

• SIPRI: Transparency in arms procurement_limitations and opportunities for assessing global armament developments(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) (pdf, 20 pages)

• International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA): Arctic Policies and Strategies — Analysis, Synthesis, and Trends (Opens New Window) (pdf, 5,59 Mt, 265 page)

• ETLA: Brexit and Indirect Impact Routes through Global Value Chains (Opens New Window) (711 KB)
• ECFR: Three Crises and An Opportunity: Europe’s Stake in Multilateralism (Opens New Window) (2 MB)
• Chatham House: Russia’s Military posture in the Arctic; Managing Hard Power in a ‘Low Tension’ Environment (Opens New Window)(1 MB)
• Ministry of Defence, Ministry of the Interior and Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Russia of Power-report(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
• DiploFoundation: Mapping the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence for the conduct of diplomacy

• European Policy Centre (EPC): Competing priorities at the EUs external border

• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI): The New Geopolitics of Peace Operations III: Non‑traditional Security Challenges initiative:

  • Multilateral Peace Operations and the Challenges of Organized Crime

  • Multilateral Peace Operations and the Challenges of Terrorism and Violent Extremism

• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)(Link to another website.): Can Europe Save the World Order(Link to another website.)
• Carnegie(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Cooperation and Competition: Russia and China in Central Asia, the Russian Far East and the Arctic (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
• DiploFoundation(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Data Diplomacy: Updating diplomacy to the big data era (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
• VATT Institute for Economic Research(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): The expected economic impacts of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement in Finland(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
• Erik Castrén Institute(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Autonomous Weapon Systems an International Humanitarian Law: Out of the Loop? (Opens New Window) (pdf, 456 KB, 76 pages)
• Tampere Peace Research Institute(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): The Era of Private Peacemakers: A New Dialogic Approach to Mediation (Opens New Window)
• Solid Plan Consulting(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): EU Targeted Sanctions and Fundamental Rights (Opens New Window)
• Brookings(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window):
  • Dealing with a simmering Ukraine-Russia conflict(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
  • Putin and the Kremlin are experts at reading the popular mood. And they were watching America(Link to another website.)
  • Why small steps on Russia are better than attempts at a grand bargain(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
  • Draw red lines on Russia (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)): African Directions Towards an Equitable Partnership in Peace Operations(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)
• Center for Transatlantic Relations: Forward Resilience: Protecting Society in an Interconnected World (pdf)
• University of Oxford and Future of Humanity Institute(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Existential Risk Diplomacy and Governance (Opens New Window)

• Finnish Water Forum(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Towards closer Nordic cooperation in the water sector(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) (pdf, 2,3 MB, 66 pages)

• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR(Link to another website.)): Putin’s hydra: Inside Russia’s intelligence services(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

• European Policy Centre (EPC(Link to another website.)): Europe's Troublemakers (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

• Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)): An Arctic Redesign(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

• Richard Gowan: The UN and Finnish Security: a 60th Anniversary Audit

• Brookings Institution(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Democracy, Human Rights and the Emerging Global Order (Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)

• The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA)(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): The Contribution of the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions to the Panel of Eminent Persons (Link to another website.)

• Clingendael (Netherlands Institute of International Relations)(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Diplomacy in the Digital Age (Opens New Window) (pdf, 78 pages, 700 KB)

• SaferGlobe(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Nordic Arms Transfer Controls and the Arms Trade Treaty (Opens New Window) (pdf, 33 pages, 724 KB)

• Clingendael (Netherlands Institute of International Relations)(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window): Futures for Diplomacy(Link to another website.) (pdf, 4,3 MB, 85 pages)

• SIPRI: Multilateral peace operations and the challenges of organized crime(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) (pdf, 16 pages)

• SIPRI: Multilateral peace operations and the challenges of terrorism and violent extremism(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window) (pdf, 16 pages)

In addition to these, different departments have their own research projects. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is also involved in the government’s analysis, assessment and research activities (VN-TEAS(Link to another website.)).