ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a historical context for understanding Finland's response to the changed security environment in Europe, effectively the state of defence up to 2014. It describes how the state to be deterred – Russia – is seen in Finland. The chapter addresses the nature of Finland's deterrence efforts, first conceptually and then through examples of the concrete steps that Finland has taken to further improve the credibility of its defence and deterrence. It discusses some of the obstacles to creating even a limited deterrence, including some reflections on the future of Finnish deterrence. Within the framework of deterrence, the impact may be something similar to 'ambiguous extended deterrence' – creating ambiguity about whether there is an extended deterrence in addition to Finnish central deterrence. In the unlikely situation of Finland becoming a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member, extended deterrence would have to be integrated into Finnish deterrence thinking.
