Browsing by Author "Saarelainen, Iris"

Finland has recently announced its intentions to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This research will overview what the decision to apply and to join means for Finland from an international law perspective. The main purpose of NATO is to exercise its designated collective defense ideology through the means laid out in the North Atlantic Treaty. However, the organization operates outside the treaty’s scope based on provisions laid out in soft law declarations. The implications of what operations fall within the scope of the North Atlantic Treaty and what operations are outside the hard law scope are examined in this research. Previous instances of the use of force by the organization in out-of-scope circumstances, as well as other possible deficiencies in the North Atlantic Treaty, are covered in this research. While the examination of the possible deficiencies in the North Atlantic Treaty serves its purpose for due diligence regarding Finland joining the alliance, the discussion is also aimed toward the organization as a whole for the consideration of the possible need to amend the North Atlantic Treaty whether or not Finland will be joining NATO. The following research question guides the research: “What are the legally binding rights and obligations a NATO member state gains after accession, and what does Finland need to consider in the eyes of international law based on NATO’s past actions and inactions?”