Thursday, January 27, 2005

Rocks Off: Rejecting The Policy Of Fraters Libertaszation

My guy Saint Paul over at Fraters Libertas (I won't out his identity, but can you truly trust a dude with two first names?) writes about me, Molotov cocktails, and post-WWII Finland/Soviet Union relations. And he even drops the offensive "F" word ... finlandization. While casual observers (those who read a single Wikipedia entry) of Finland's history use terms like "finlandization" and "appeasement," the correct term (used by those of us who read three Wikipedia entries) is "geographic realism." Check out this fascinating entry from Wikipedia:

Authorities on the foreign relations of Finland often argue that proponents of the term "Finlandization" persistently failed to recognize that Finland had achieved its negotiating position after successfully fending off military attacks of the Soviet Union in the Winter War (1939) and the Continuation War (1941). While the Soviets certainly didn't actively fear the Finns, those who were in charge of handling relations with Finland have since openly admitted that relations with Finland were handled with the same care that they would have handled relations with a super-power.

Yep - Finland handled with care like a superpower. Compare that to the better-red-than-dead (in)actions of the rest of post-WWII Eastern Europe. Sisu!