Finland

In The Wall Street Journal, this geopolitical news article on Finland is the first one I can recall reading anywhere. Swimming into focus are renewed tensions with the new Russia. Th

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Finland has ramped up its military spending, boosting its defense budget to above 2% and snapping up U.S. rocket systems, as well as Israeli antitank and air-defense systems. The country is preparing to base F-35 jet fighters it will receive from the U.S. just over 100 miles from its border with Russia.

I wish for Finland and Israel to explore each other much more.

Glenn of Sauna Talk stands on the street in Helsinki and interviews passersby on their practice of and relationship with, well, sauna.

How lovely and wonderful: Finnish sauna culture is recognized by UNESCO, as reported by EuroNews.

Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2018 [PDF] by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

On nationalism old and new. In Tablet, the prophetic columnist David P. Goldman discusses Yoram Hazony’s new book The Virtue of Nationalism.

From this BBC article: “It’s surprising how often the UK seems to be more like the Scandinavian countries than anywhere else.”

The conclusion of this peer-reviewed scientific article on sauna: “Increased frequency of sauna bathing is associated with a reduced risk of SCD, CHD, CVD, and all-cause mortality.”