VIEW TO COLD WAR THROUGH PERICENTRIC LENSES: TITO’S YUGOSLAVIA & KEKKONEN’S FINLAND
VIEW TO COLD WAR THROUGH PERICENTRIC LENSES: TITO’S YUGOSLAVIA & KEKKONEN’S FINLAND

Summary/Abstract: : From a sociological and historical perspective, by looking through “pericentric glasses”,1 with awareness that during the Cold War, in addition to East and West, North and South existed too, the author explores the connections of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and the Republic of Finland. Complex geopolitics of the Cold War influenced the establishment of the position of the countries mentioned in this paper in the international community but it also allowed them to be relatively autonomous in their actions. It also provided them the potential to be catalysts and even mediators of certain ideas that will result in changes at the global level. Зis paper will highlight key points of gathering between the two countries, which are political and cultural cooperation, which were complementary to each other. Зe cooperation between the two countries will be presented as a result of a related political approach, namely, the principle of pacifism which both countries had supported, opposing at the same time the “arms race” and nuclear experiments. Зe conclusions are illustrated with tangible political projects of the two countries, especially their close cooperation in significant political bodies: the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Inspired by common policy objectives of the two authoritarian presidents, Urho Kekkonen and Josip Broz Tito, cultural ideologues of SFRY Education Ministry Secretariat for Foreign Affairs and of Finish Education Ministry’s International Cooperation Department have focused on the bilateral dialogue mainly in the field of visual and fine arts, and also in literature and music.

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