As world leaders attempt to avoid a war over the Russia-Ukraine standoff, a single word has come into wide circulation in recent days: "Finlandization." Before his talks with the leaders of both nations, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to suggest it was being considered as a model for a possible solution, though he later backtracked on that. Coverage:
- The term: It refers to a deal Finland struck with the Soviet Union in 1948, when tensions between the USSR and the West were high. Slate defines it in broad strokes: The USSR "agreed not to invade Finland, as long as Finland remained militarily neutral and did not join NATO."
- Consequences: As a result of that deal, "Finland survived as an independent and unoccupied democracy in the shadow of the Soviet Union by handing the Kremlin outsized influence over its politics and hewing to a delicate neutrality during the Cold War," writes Jason Horowitz in the New York Times. Finland is a much more independent nation today, and "Finlandization" no longer applies there. In fact, the term is largely seen as "taboo" in Finland by critics who think leaders granted the USSR too much sway, writes Horowitz.