New book on Åland’s demilitarisation published by an international publisher
The Peace Institute’s director, Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark, has written together with two other researchers, Saila Heinikoski and Pirjo Kleemola-Juntunen, the book “Demilitarization and International Law in Context – The Åland Islands”, which has just been published by Routledge.
The demilitarisation and neutralisation of the Åland Islands is a confirmation of, and an exception to, the collective security system in present-day international affairs. Its core idea is that there is no need for military presence in the territory of the islands and that they are to be kept out of military activities. A restricted use of military force has a confidence building effect in cases where competing interests may be so intense that banning the very presence of military force remains the only viable option. The regime of the Åland Islands is the result of pragmatic and contingent political compromises. As such, the case of the Åland Islands offers an alternative trajectory to the increased militarisation we witness around the world today.
