An existential threat in the North: Ontological insecurity and the Nordic path to NATO

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022 unleashed a series of foreign and security policy changes in Europe. One of the most notable ruptures was the decision by Finland and Sweden to apply for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership in May 2022 after a long tradition of military non-alignment, which has deeply characterised their state identities. This article focuses on this foreign and security rupture from the perspective of ontological security, employing an interpretative triangle of traditions, beliefs, and dilemmas to explain how ontological security was enhanced in Finland and Sweden. The article argues that although Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine was seen as a serious threat to physical security both in Finland and Sweden, prompting the states to rapidly apply for NATO membership, it paradoxically provided conducive conditions for a more solid sense of ontological security in the two Nordic states. The article argues that routinising relationship with significant others, adjusting states identities, establishing a secure place called ‘home’, and avoiding behaviours that can generate a sense of shame enhanced ontological security in the critical situation. However, unresolved dilemmas will likely cause ontological tensions in the new self-articulation of Finnish and Swedish state identity.