Coming Home or Moving Home? 'Westernizing' Narratives in Finnish Foreign Policy and the Reinterpretation of Past Identities

With the end of the Cold War, historical revisionism became popular in Finland. Central to such revisionism has been the notion that Finland has come home to assume its rightful and natural place in the Western European family. Such narratives are politicized, serving as a way to justify an increasingly Western-oriented foreign policy. In the first instance, the article analyses the foundations of such Westernizing narratives in order to expose their politicized nature. Secondly, it is shown that as a consequence of a particular reading of the Cold War period through a return to the Finlandization debates of the late 1960s-1980s, 'West' and 'Europe' are understood in contemporary debate largely in terms of an opposition with Cold War Finnish foreign policy and Cold War characterizations of Soviet/Russian identity. Finally, the article focuses more explicitly on the emplotment of Russia within Finnish discourse. In constructing Westernness and Europeanness in terms of an opposition to a rather ambiguous emplotment of Russia as a potential threat, it is shown that engaging with the 'feared' neighbour has in fact become an opportunity for the Finns to construct positive images of themselves as a participant in the Western civilizing mission in Russia.