North star: Why Australia should look to Finland on resilience and preparedness

In this era of worsening global risk and the questioning of alliances, Australia’s security demands whole-of-nation preparedness and resilience. This means commitment, coordination and the ability to mobilise all sectors of society, far beyond anything the nation has known since the Second World War.
A priority should be to engage best-practice approaches to national security among those democracies that have already learned the hard way.
Finland is a proven leader in comprehensive security and self-reliance, and is already a model for Europe. While physically distant, its closeness in values and security outlook make it a promising partner for Australia.
Shared interests will grow in a global theatre of strategic risk. Both nations face authoritarian pressure on their maritime lifelines such as undersea cables. Both need to prioritise whole-of-nation resilience, whatever adversaries – or allies – may have in mind.