Neighbouring an unpredictable Russia – Finnish views on strategic deterrence and total defence.
Vendredi 18 septembre 2026
Neighbouring an unpredictable Russia – Finnish views on strategic deterrence and total defence.
Le vendredi 18 septembre de 9h à 11h, nous aurons le plaisir de recevoir deux collègues de l’Université de défense nationale de Finlande et de l’Université de Helsinki pour une séance en anglais dédiée à l’appréciation de la menace russe vue de Finlande.
Ce séminaire se tiendra en salle des commissions et en ligne dans le cadre du cycle « les pays de l’espace nordico-baltique face aux menaces hybrides russes » animé en collaboration avec Céline Bayou, Sophie Enos-Attali et Emilija Pundziute-Gallois.
Europe is facing a long-term confrontation with Russia and uncertainty with its core security relations. Russia seeks to take advantage of Europe’s fear of conflict, war fatigue and indecisiveness to further its strategic interests. Europe must build a new strategy on Russia that is based on realistic analysis of the Russian threat and on a proactive set of policies to deter escalation and prepare the population. How has the Russian threat evolved over the years and how have Finnish researchers sought to explain this change? What were the mistakes made in the process, and how to learn from them? What are the benefits of the Finnish approach to deter and repel Russia’s hybrid and kinetic threats?
Speakers :
- Professor Katri Pynnöniemi, University of Helsinki.
- Dr. Pentti Forsström, Finnish National Defence University.
Moderator :
- Céline Marangé, Institute for Strategic Research, IRSEM.
Learn more about their biography:
Lt. Col. (ret.) Pentti Forsström is a Senior Researcher at the Finnish National Defence University (FNDU). He served in the Finnish Defence Forces for 20 years with military experience including several positions in military intelligence and strategic research in Finland and five years abroad. In 2009, he graduated from the General Staff Academy of the Russian Armed Forces and in 2019 defended his PhD in military science.
Katri Pynnöniemi is Professor at the University of Helsinki (Aleksanteri Institute) and holds the Mannerheim Chair of Russian Security Studies that brings together promising young researchers studying ideology production in Russian strategy and its implications for European security. She is also member of the Russia study group at the FNDU, responsible for teaching and supervision of research on Russian strategy.
Check out their latest publications:
Katri Pynnöniemi & Amelie Tolvin, “Reconstructing Kremlin strategic deception: the logic of disinformation narratives during the first phase of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine”, The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 2025 : https:/doi.org/10.1080/13518046.2025.2548727;
Katri Pynnöniemi & Kati Parppei, “Understanding Russia’s war against Ukraine: Political, eschatological and cataclysmic dimensions”, Journal of Strategic Studies, 2024: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2024.2379395.
Learn more about this series of seminars:
Pour rappel, le cycle « Les pays de l’espace nordico-baltique face aux menaces hybrides de la Russie », animé par Céline Bayou (INALCO), Sophie Enos-Attali (ICP), Céline Marangé (IRSEM) et Emilija Pundziūtė-Gallois (ICP), se fixe deux objectifs : d’une part, étudier les actions hybrides menées par la Russie dans la région nordico-baltique, en mer, dans les airs et sur terre, mais aussi dans les domaines cyber et informationnel, et examiner les dangers qui pèsent sur les infrastructures critiques et les moyens de communication ; d’autre part, analyser comment les pays de la région interprètent le signalement stratégique russe et cherchent à se prémunir contre les défis hybrides, notamment via le déploiement d’une stratégie de défense totale impliquant l’ensemble de la société.