ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the origins and key characteristics of the Finnish Comprehensive Security Model (CSM). The analysis relates this model to the notion of Nordic “societal security”, and traces its emergence to the societal trust and collaboration skills honed through Finland’s unique military history and geography. The CSM, like similar security approaches in the Nordic region, takes a wide threat perspective, implicates a broad number of actors, including citizens, and emphasises preparedness planning and implementation. The CSM is as much a conceptual approach as a practical governance model, and one that is supported in regular security strategies, through coordination platforms, and by political leaders. While largely supported across Finnish society, a number of challenges linked to threat complexity and financial resourcing remain. This chapter thus helps to place Finland in comparative perspective when considering the patterns of societal security in the Nordic region.
