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Begin New Search Topic International Cooperation Author Mika Aaltola

1. The Helsinki Process and its applicability: Towards regional security-building in the Persian Gulf

Author:
Mikael Wigell and Mika Aaltola
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The idea of a ‘Middle East Helsinki Process’ has been raised as a potential collective security mechanism to help avoid major political regressions and violent spirals. The Helsinki Process, known for reducing tensions between the Soviet Union and the West in the 1970s, can provide some useful lessons, but the region will have to develop its own model by drawing on past experiences and the region-specific threat perceptions and political needs. Non-interference, sovereignty and the protection of religious rights could serve as useful starting principles for regional security-building in the Middle East. Drawing on the lessons learnt from the Helsinki Process, specific recommendations for a possible Middle East Process would be as follows: i) establish a regional initiative for building a security architecture in the Persian Gulf inspired by the Helsinki Process and its institutionalization; ii) establish a channel for Track 1, state-to-state-level consultations; iii) focus on the basic security guarantees that are common to the Persian Gulf states; and iv) maximize regional ownership, but with external facilitation.
Topic:
Security, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, and Sovereignty
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Securing global commons: A small state perspective

Author:
Valtteri Vuorisalo, Mika Aaltola, and Joonas Sipilä
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This report examines the increasing importance of the global commons. It argues that the securing of the sea-, air-, space-, and cyber-based global flows solidifies the vital structures of global interdependence. For a small state with a highly specialized economy, the multilateral frameworks for securing global flows are crucial. Each global domain highlights different aspects of power and requires unique forms of international cooperation. Whereas the maintenance of sea, air, and space flows are resource-intensive, cyber power demands de-territorial agility and innovativeness and, therefore, evens out power disparities. It is also noted that, although individual global domains are usually considered separately, they are intimately connected and characterized by cross-domain dependency. This report focuses on the cyber domain because of its novel cross-domain impact. The CD and MNE processes and their relation to military transformation and patterns of political discourse are approached. It is argued that a small state can utilize the MNE forum to gain important situational awareness over the domains and cross-domain issues, as well as facilitate the formulation of multilateral normative frameworks. This multilateral work on solidifying and securing global flows offers a more stable foundation for the main networks of global interdependence.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Cooperation, and Science and Technology