This week I interviewed the Finnish ambassador to the United States, Leena-Kaisa Mikkola. She’s speaking at FinnFest in Duluth this weekend. The soft-focus nostalgia of the Finnish-American experience on the Iron Range tends to dominate a lot of my history conversations. So, in today’s column, I was glad to explore something less theoretical: Finland today.
Mikkola talked about Finland’s successes and the threats it faces from Russia, U.S. tariffs and a rapidly changing world. The ambassador was planning to speak about Nordic-style “soft diplomacy” at FinnFest, so we talked a lot about that. Frankly, the U.S. would benefit from more of the Finnish approach to international relationships.
Read “In a changing world, ‘sauna diplomacy’ would benefit U.S.” in the Saturday, July 2, 2025 edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Minnesota Star Tribune. His new book about Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and his momentous fight against the world’s largest corporation will be out soon.
