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.

Examples of partners in projects under way in 2020-2021:

• Dialogue Advisory Group
• CFFP, Center for Feminist Foreign Policy, Germany
• CEOBS, Conflict and Environment Observatory, UK
• SNV, Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, Germany
• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Germany, UK
• Women of the Arctic ry, Finland
• The Brookings Institution, USA
• Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Sweden
• DiploFoundation, Switzerland
• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, USA
• University of Turku, Finland

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 (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 (pdf, 38 pages)

• UPI: Finnish foreign policy during EU membership (pdf, 34 pages)

• SIPRI: Transparency in arms procurement_limitations and opportunities for assessing global armament developments (pdf, 20 pages)

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

• ETLA: Brexit and Indirect Impact Routes through Global Value Chains (711 KB)
• ECFR: Three Crises and An Opportunity: Europe’s Stake in Multilateralism (2 MB)
• Chatham House: Russia’s Military posture in the Arctic; Managing Hard Power in a ‘Low Tension’ Environment (1 MB)
• Ministry of Defence, Ministry of the Interior and Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Russia of Power-report
• 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): Can Europe Save the World Order
• Carnegie: Cooperation and Competition: Russia and China in Central Asia, the Russian Far East and the Arctic
• DiploFoundation: Data Diplomacy: Updating diplomacy to the big data era
• VATT Institute for Economic Research: The expected economic impacts of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement in Finland
• Erik Castrén Institute: Autonomous Weapon Systems an International Humanitarian Law: Out of the Loop? (pdf, 456 KB, 76 pages)
• Tampere Peace Research Institute: The Era of Private Peacemakers: A New Dialogic Approach to Mediation
• Solid Plan Consulting: EU Targeted Sanctions and Fundamental Rights
• Brookings:
  • Dealing with a simmering Ukraine-Russia conflict
  • Putin and the Kremlin are experts at reading the popular mood. And they were watching America
  • Why small steps on Russia are better than attempts at a grand bargain
  • Draw red lines on Russia
• Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI): African Directions Towards an Equitable Partnership in Peace Operations
• Center for Transatlantic Relations: Forward Resilience: Protecting Society in an Interconnected World (pdf)
• University of Oxford and Future of Humanity Institute: Existential Risk Diplomacy and Governance

• Finnish Water Forum: Towards closer Nordic cooperation in the water sector (pdf, 2,3 MB, 66 pages)

• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR): Putin’s hydra: Inside Russia’s intelligence services

• European Policy Centre (EPC): Europe's Troublemakers

• Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS): An Arctic Redesign

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

• Brookings Institution: Democracy, Human Rights and the Emerging Global Order

• The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA): The Contribution of the OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutions to the Panel of Eminent Persons

• Clingendael (Netherlands Institute of International Relations): Diplomacy in the Digital Age (pdf, 78 pages, 700 KB)

• SaferGlobe: Nordic Arms Transfer Controls and the Arms Trade Treaty (pdf, 33 pages, 724 KB)

• Clingendael (Netherlands Institute of International Relations): Futures for Diplomacy (pdf, 4,3 MB, 85 pages)

• SIPRI: Multilateral peace operations and the challenges of organized crime (pdf, 16 pages)

• SIPRI: Multilateral peace operations and the challenges of terrorism and violent extremism (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).