Finland is a northern European country of fewer than 6m people with a 1,300km border with Russia. It spent 600 years as part of Sweden and most of the 19th century as part of the Russian empire before gaining independence in 1917.
Finland was included in the secret Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that carved up central and eastern Europe between Germany and the Soviet Union; it was assigned to the latter. In the Winter War of 1939-40, Stalin invaded expecting to take the capital in two weeks but was met with fierce resistance. Unlike any other part of the former Russian empire, Finland never lost its independence or its democracy. Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, a former general in the Russian Imperial Army, commanded Finland's army through the Winter War and the subsequent War of Continuation. He was as resolute in putting up the fight as he was in accepting a bitter peace.
The peace imposed in 1944 required Finland to cede 10% of its territory, including Karelia and half of Lake Ladoga, and to promise perpetual neutrality. Its army was restricted, as was its ability to join NATO. Finland was forced to let Russia lease Porkkala, a naval base on a peninsula in the Gulf of Finland just 30km from the capital. Having joined forces with Hitler later in the war, it was also forced to pay reparations to the Soviet Union that had attacked it. The entire population of Finnish Karelia—over 400,000 people—was evacuated. Porkkala was returned to Finnish hands in the 1950s.
In the Cold War era, Finland carefully avoided anything that could anger Moscow. To most outsiders, what became known as "Finlandisation" was a servile form of appeasement. To Finns, it was the definition of realpolitik at a time when they had no choice. It allowed Finland to stick to its core values: universal education, social welfare and the rule of law.
Long before it joined NATO in 2023, Finland had developed a system of "total defence" that relies on compulsory national service and the voluntary participation of private businesses. Its conscript army generates a reserve force of almost 1m trained citizens. A survey shows almost 80% of Finns would take up arms to defend their country "even if the outcome seemed uncertain"—the share in most European countries is far lower, and is just 14% in Italy. An increasing number of young women join the military voluntarily alongside the conscript men. Many Finnish adults attend invitation-only multi-day security courses that serve as elite networking events; alumni are proud of their group number, with a low one meaning early invitation.
Under the Comprehensive Security Concept, Finns are expected to store enough food, water and medical supplies for 72 hours. Civilian volunteers trained in first aid, rescue and firefighting lead others to designated bomb shelters large enough to hold 85% of the population. These are not drab bunkers: some include underground playgrounds, swimming pools and, of course, saunas. Lists are kept of who should go where.
The Finns call this resilience sisu—a personality trait or philosophy combining inner strength, perseverance and a can-do attitude towards adversity. Alexander Stubb, 57, Finland's president and a physical-fitness devotee, exemplifies the philosophy. "I think the Finnish assessment is never to panic," he told The Economist. "React and act when necessary."
Russia announced the creation of a new formation, the 44th Army Corps, in Karelia along the Finnish border in 2023.
Finland is the only country whose ports can all freeze in winter, and necessity has bred world-leading expertise: Finnish firms have designed four-fifths and built more than half of the world's icebreakers. Aker Arctic, based in Helsinki, is the country's leading designer of icebreakers. Finland built Sisu, its first diesel-electric icebreaker, in the 1930s, and has since developed a domestic supply chain stretching from design firms to shipyards. During its period of non-alignment in the cold war, Finland honed the industry building icebreakers for Russia. That trade ended in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Icebreakers need thick hulls, powerful engines and complicated vibration-control and ice-proofing systems. Most are made to order, making them ill-suited to the large production runs common in East Asian shipyards. One icebreaker completed for Russia in 2014, Baltika, has an asymmetrical hull that lets it sail sideways, carving a 50-metre path through the ice.
Polaris, Finland's newest icebreaker, was built in three years for €125m. In 2024 the Biden administration signed the ICE Pact with Canada and Finland to expand icebreaker capacity. In August 2025 the Helsinki shipyard began work on the first ship under the scheme, an icebreaker for Canada named Polar Max. Donald Trump said in June 2025 he was negotiating with Finland to buy 15 vessels; he has previously mused about acquiring 40. On October 9th 2025 Trump struck a deal with Alexander Stubb, Finland's president, for Finland to build four icebreakers and then, using Finnish technology, for American yards to build a further seven. America's coastguard says it needs around ten polar icebreakers but has only three. The last icebreaker America's government built for the coastguard, Healy, was finished in 1997; a plan to build new ones is delayed and its budget has ballooned to $1.9bn for the first ship, originally due in 2024 but now not expected before 2029.
Russia has around 50 polar icebreakers, including nuclear-powered behemoths, reflecting its long northern coast and over 2m Arctic residents. In August 2025 two Chinese icebreakers sailed over an area of American-claimed seabed off Alaska; the coastguard sent Healy to monitor them.
Finland's timber and paper industry used to import wood from Russia, and its refineries distilled Russian crude. Finnair, the national carrier, used Russian airspace to exploit Helsinki's location in the middle of routes between Europe and Asia. Since the war in Ukraine and the closure of the Finnish-Russian border, Finland must trade via the Baltic Sea. Cutting off links with Russia has caused pain, but a study by Finland's central bank found the overall impact on growth to be minor. A loss of investor confidence has been more serious.
Finland has struggled to grow since the war began; its unemployment rate is near 10%. State spending might pep up beleaguered consumers, but ministers hope to cut the deficit, conscious that debt-to-GDP is forecast to approach 90% by the end of 2026. Finland ordered 64 F-35 fighter jets from America in 2021 at a cost of $9.4bn (3.2% of GDP), but just a few parts could be produced at home, limiting the domestic gains from defence spending. There are not many Finnish defence firms.
Alexander Stubb is Finland's president. Finland never had colonies, which Stubb argues makes it easier than some Western powers to earn a hearing in the Global South. Esko Aho was prime minister in the 1990s.
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