The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA, Finnish: Ulkopoliittinen instituutti, Swedish: Utrikespolitiska institutet, UPI) is an independent research institute that produces topical information of a high standard on international relations and the European Union. The Institute takes an active role in public debates and its expertise supports political decision-making. The core of the Institute's funding comes from the Parliament of Finland. The Institute is located on Katajanokka in Helsinki.
The Institute has three research programmes: The European Union; The EU's Eastern Neighbourhood and Russia; and Global Security. The FIIA organises conferences, seminars and round-table meetings on topical subjects related to research programs. These seminars provide a forum for high level discussions between academics and decision-makers. The research findings and current analyses on international topics are published in the FIIA-Report and Briefing Paper –series. In addition, the Institute publishes Ulkopolitiikka, a quarterly journal on international relations. The Institute also maintains the Archive and Chronology of Finnish Foreign Policy (Eilen Archive, www.eilen.fi).
The staff of the new Finnish Institute of International Affairs consists of around 50 members. The Director of the Institute is Dr. Teija Tiilikainen. The work of the FIIA is directed by a nine-member board, appointed by the Parliament and chaired by Minister Antti Tanskanen. The Institute also has an advisory council.
The Institute was set up at the centennial session of the Finnish Parliament in June 2006 and started to function 1 January 2007 under the auspices of the Parliament of Finland. Previously, the Finnish Institute of International Affairs functioned as a private research organization that was founded by the Paasikivi Society in 1961 and maintained by the Foundation for Foreign Policy Research.
Famous quotes containing the words international affairs, finnish, institute and/or affairs:
“The chief reason warfare is still with us is neither a secret death-wish of the human species, nor an irrepressible instinct of aggression, nor, finally and more plausibly, the serious economic and social dangers inherent in disarmament, but the simple fact that no substitute for this final arbiter in international affairs has yet appeared on the political scene.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“A conversation in English in Finnish and in French can not be held at the same time nor with indifference ever or after a time.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“Whenever any form of government shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it’s foundation on such principles & organising it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“A scholar without going outside his door can know all the affairs of the world.”
—Chinese proverb.