I just published an essay exploring what the Finnish word “sisu” means amid geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West, and in the context of hard choices that will always come.

I first discuss a video NATO published on January 28, 2025, about Finland’s deterrence strategy and how “sisu” is part of that.

This essay emerged during tense times in my own country, where we’re seeing events never experienced in the history of my government—including dismantling of public agencies and possible violations of the constitution, according to legal scholars.

Crisis moments make me think about historic times when you know that things you have been living and experiencing will not be the same, and when a conflict is coming.

How do people respond, morally, individually, and at the national level?

One lesson that stands out to me is how Finland resisted an unprovoked invasion by the USSR in November 1939. This was one of three wars it fought in WWII. Another, 1941-44, involved Finland attempting to reclaim lost territory from the first war, aligned with, yes, Nazi Germany, and then it fought a final war against Germany, 1944-45, to create lasting peace that preserved the country.

Nothing was pleasant about this time.

Finland endured, and it did it with little help, and by making incredibly complex choices at enormous costs. I’ve seen war memorials in nearly every Finnish city/town I have visited in 2023 and 2024 that highlight these costs.

At some point, hard choices are made when confronting immoral forces and great harm.