The Åland Islands Peace Institute offers an opportunity for one or two trainees to experience a dynamic and flexible internship during the autumn semester of 2019.

Are you interested in issues about peace, security, minorities and autonomy? Do you like arranging seminars, writing information texts, layout and publishing information online? Then maybe we have the internship for you!

Submit your application before 27 May 2019. (NB Extended deadline.)

Mirjam Granström has been a research intern at the Åland Islands Peace Institute from March to May 2019. Here are her reflections on the internship period:

The core reason for my interest in an internship at the Åland Peace Institute was that I wanted to become better acquainted with research and with issues that the Institute is working on in the field of peace, security and minorities. When I think back on my internship, I realise that in addition to gaining an insight into how the Institute works with research, I have really become aware of what Åland's special status entails.

As a Swedish-speaking Finn I have read about the "Åland example" in history class, but it was only during the internship period that I really understood what this special position entails and how Åland can serve as an example of a peaceful solution of a minority conflict.

In practice, I have had the opportunity to work on the development of the e-course "Territorial Autonomy as a Tool for Diversity Management: Lessons from the Åland Example", I have participated in the Kastelholm talks and in various seminars concerning questions about the special position of Åland, the position of the Swedish language, sustainable development and other relevant issues. Besides this, I have also had the opportunity to familiarise myself with another form of peaceful conflict resolution, that is, mediation activities at the Åland Mediation Office. In my studies, I have read about examples of how various international actors strive to solve conflicts internationally, and it has been extremely interesting and instructive to see how the Mediation Office on Åland is working to develop peaceful solutions to conflicts that occur in the Åland society. The discussions with the staff and with volunteer mediators have made me realise how important it is that peace work is also carried out locally.

Overall, during the internship period, I have had the opportunity to try a variety of tasks as well as to participate in educational discussions and lectures. I have also had the opportunity to present and discuss issues that I am passionate about and I have met people who believe in what they work with and who have inspired me.

Mirjam Granström with Mediation Officer Petra Granholm and Organisation Secretary as well as Mediation Supervisor Mirjam Lukola.

Link to / Länk till Nyhetsbrev / Newsletter 2/2019

CONTENTS

• Upcoming lunch seminar 8.5.2019:
• Jonny Andersen - On the Swedish Language in Finland and The Swedish Assembly of Finland
• Call for Interns at the Åland Islands Peace Institute in the autumn of 2019
• Three new Members of the Board
• Night of Knowledge 10.6 at Alandica Debatt Event
  and more

INNEHÅLL

• Kommande lunchseminarium 8.5.2019:
• Jonny Andersen - Hur står det till med svenskan i Finland? Om Folktinget och dess arbete
• Praktik vid Ålands fredsinstitut hösten 2019
• Tre nya ledamöter i fredsinstitutets styrelse
• Kunskapens kväll 10.6 på Alandica Debatt
  m.m.

At the annual meeting of the Åland Islands Peace Institute Foundation on 9 April, a new Board of Directors was elected for the next mandate period. Three new members were elected:

Mr Marcus Koskinen-Hagman, is the Rector of Ålands lyceum, with vast interest in youth and societal issues. He defended his doctoral thesis in 1999 at the Center for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University, with the dissertation "Latent Trait Models of Intrinsic, Extrinsic and Quest Religious Orientations".

Ms Hanna Ojanen, is an Associate Professor in International Politics at the University of Helsinki. She has previously worked at the Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki as well as in Stockholm and has been Jean Monnet Professor at the University of Tampere. Ojanen has had several assignments as editor and editorial member of international journals on European issues, peace issues, political science and Nordic integration. She was a speaker at the Kastelholm Talks on Peace 2016 on Åland.

Mr Anders Lidén, is a former Ambassador and Senior Official at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Lidén has been Permanent Representative of Sweden to the United Nations in New York and Ambassador in, among others, Helsinki. He has studied history and political science and has, over the years, accumulated extensive knowledge of Middle East issues and experience from peace negotiations and the UN Security Council. 

Chairman Roger Nordlund and members Katarina Fellman, Nina Fellman, Göran Lindholm and Lia Markelin were re-elected. Deputy Chairman Ulla Backlund and member Kenneth Gustavsson completed their term and were thanked for their important contributions to the Board. Member Christian Pleijel resigned at his own request during the term of office.

The Board of Directors is appointed every two years with a mandate period of two years, in accordance with the statutes.

At the annual meeting, the Peace Institute's Research Council was also appointed for the next two years. All members were re-elected. The Research Council consists of Dr. Gunilla Herolf, Professor Kjell-Åke Nordquist and Associate Professor Mikael Wigell. The Peace Institute's Director, Associate Professor, Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark serves as the secretary of the Council.

This year's Kastelholm talks on peace were held on 28 March with the theme "Democracy, Participation and the Role of Civil Society". The Kastelholm talks began with a panel discussion in Kastelholm Castle where the patron of the talks President Tarja Halonen discussed with a panel consisting of Ms. Maud Olofsson, former Minister for Enterprise, former Member of Parliament and Deputy Prime Minister of the Swedish Government; Mr. Pär Stenbäck, former Minister of the Finnish Government, former Member of Parliament and Party Chairperson of the Swedish People's Party; Ms. Li Bennich-Björkman, Johan Skytte Professor of Eloquence and Political Science, affiliated with the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University and Mr. Göran Djupsund, Professor of Political Science, election commentator in Finnish-Swedish television and former Principal of Åbo Akademi University in Vaasa. The discussion was moderated by the Peace Institute's Director, Associate Professor Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark.

The conversation was livestreamed in collaboration with NIPÅ and can be watched (in Swedish) here.

CONTENTS

• Upcoming lunch seminar 12.3.2019: Marie Allansson - Is the World Becoming More Peaceful or More Violent?
• The Kastelholm Talks on Peace 28.3.2019
• Lecture 7.3.2019 by Rector Peter Aronsson, Linnaeus University
• Spiliopoulou Åkermark Participates in the Conference "Countries without Armies"
• and more

INNEHÅLL

• Kommande lunchseminarium 12.3.2019: Marie Allansson - Blir världen fredligare eller mer våldsam?
• Kastelholmssamtal om fred 28.3.2019
• Föreläsning 7.3.2019 av rektor Peter Aronsson, Linnéuniversitetet
• Spiliopoulou Åkermark deltar i konferensen ”Countries without Armies”
• m.m.

When the Åland Islands Peace Institute organises Kastelholm talks on peace for the fifth time, the theme is "Democracy, participation and the role of civil society". The Kastelholm talks are recurring discussions about peace, under the patronage of the former President of Finland, Tarja Halonen. The talks are always held in connection with Åland's demilitarisation day, which is 30 March. The talks of 2019 will be held on Thursday, 28 March. The moderator will be the Peace Institute's Director, Associate Professor Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark.

This year’s panel consists of the following speakers:

Panellists 2019: Ms. Maud Olofsson (photo Patrick Trägårdh), Mr. Pär Stenbäck (photo Kevin Abosch), Ms. Li Bennich-Björkman och Mr. Göran Djupsund.

Due to the widening content of the concept of “security” in recent decades, it is no longer possible to talk about security in general terms in a meaningful way. Instead, more specific approaches are needed. This issue of JASS is a very good example: it contains articles that range from a traditionally formulated context of security, to identity, collective security and ontological security. In particular, the context of security through demilitarisation is highlighted in some articles, while in other a more explicit or implicit comparative perspective is taken. Åland, with its international regimes of demilitarisation and neutralisation, is put in perspective in relation to Svalbard as well as to Nagorno-Karabakh. An equally important dimension is the possibility to link security to human rights, or vice versa - something that is developed in an article on North Korea. Finally – and in between all of this – stands an article analysing the development of the identity and ontological security of the Åland Islands.

The Vol. 2 Issue 2 of JASS includes the following contributions:

Aspects Regarding the Svalbard Demilitarisation in Relation to Norway Joining the Atlantic
Alliance in 1949, and Reflections on the Åland Islands’ Demilitarised and Neutralised status in
the Event of a Finnish NATO accession
Åsa Gustafsson

The French Perspective on the Åland Islands: A Cyclic Interest? Between Geopolitics,
Historiography, and a Case Study
Matthieu Chillaud

The Nexus Between Arms Control and Human Righs in the Case of North Korea
Katja Creutz

The Future of Ålands’ Identity
Pertti Joenniemi

Comparing the Åland Islands Precedent and the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict
Kamal Makili-Aliyev

What is the Essence of the Institution of Demilitarisation? Reflections upon Completion
of the Research Project “Demilitarisation in an increasingly militarised world – International
perspectives in a multilevel framework: the case of the Åland Islands”
Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark

The issue can be found at www.jass.ax.

The Contact Group between the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Government of Åland was founded in 1998. It's 20th anniversary was celebrated on December 14th in Helsinki, where two of its founders, President Tarja Halonen and former MP Roger Jansson held speeches at a seminar held for an invited audience. At the seminar, Susann Simolin, the Ålands Islands Peace Institute, presented a report about the first 20 years of the group. The report was written as an assignment from the Contact Group.
The group was formed after Åland's long-standing request for such a group, The Ministry for Foreign Affairs endorsed the idea with then Foreign Minister Tarja Halonen at the forefront. The purpose of the Contact Group is to "develop and increase the use of the Åland Example in international contexts as well as to further enhance information about and contacts with Åland".

On the basis of protocols, activity plans and reports, as well as interviews; this report identifies the objectives of the contact group and how they were implemented; who participated in the work and how the cooperation was conducted; what significance the group's work has had on the dissemination of knowledge about the Åland Example; and the highlights and difficulties in the contact group's work over the last 20 years.

The report, written in Swedish, can be downloaded here.