Women, Peace and Security in Finnish Foreign Policy

Abstract

This focus article reviews the 25-year history of interlinkages between the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and Finnish foreign policy. It documents the roles individual Finnish political leaders played in the adoption, development and implementation of theWPS agenda, particularly in the early years. It also analyses the institutionalisation of the WPS agenda within Finnish through four national action plans.We specifically interrogate the agenda’s interlinkages with three pervasive political projects within Finnish society: neoliberalism, conservatism and militarism. We argue that all three forces can undermine the transformative potential of the WPS agenda but can paradoxically also help explain the WPS agenda’s vitality within Finnish foreign policy over the last 25 years.