| If I walked into a bar in Midtown Manhattan and shouted, "Who here knows how to use an anti-tank weapon?" I'd almost certainly be met with blank stares from the patrons or, worse, reported to the police. But if I asked the same question at a bar in Helsinki, every single male customer would probably raise his hand. In Finland, they start teaching some of the tactics of 21st-century hybrid warfare in preschool. In a new feature almost as vast as the Arctic itself, Liam Denning and photojournalist Louie Palu venture to the wilderness of Rovajärvi, where hundreds of soldiers train to repel one enemy: Russia. Finland may be the happiest country in the world, but it's not without its challenges. "Watching Finnish conscripts born after 9/11 practice firing shells from German-made tanks at the rusting, frosted hulks of Soviet T-54s is like seeing a Mad Libs of history come to life," writes Liam. Finland, a nation of less than six million that joined NATO in April 2023, sits in between Eastern and Western Europe. "Abandoned by Britain and France when Stalin attacked in 1939," Liam writes, Finland has "a self-sustaining spirit" that is as integral to its culture as the Northern Lights and Christmas itself.  Antti Ritvanen, a 19-year-old Finnish conscript and Leopard 2 tank loader, sitting by the tracks of a tank and heating up food during training at the Rovajärvi range, November 2025. Photographer: Louie Palu/Agence VU Fueled by a diet of tinned fish, cigarettes and munkki – cinnamon donuts made by volunteer grandmothers — the 24,000 young men who are annually drafted to the Arctic hinterland embrace a lifestyle of sisu, which translates to grit or resilience. "The result is a trained reserve of roughly one sixth of the population. Women, who can volunteer today, will likely soon face some sort of draft themselves, as demographic pressures force Finland to expand the pool," Liam writes. It's not just the youth on the line. Finnish CEOs may also be selected to partake in national defense courses, which Liam says are "like LinkedIn but for catastrophe." Similarly, the tactical exercises imagine mass warfare: "Finnish conscripts learn relatively quickly to shoot live rounds while moving and, unsurprisingly, they look far more comfortable on skis than many of the US soldiers I met in Alaska." Liam, who could have a second career as an REI influencer, has been reporting on the Arctic for years, and he was impressed by the Finns he encountered on his latest trip: "When I met officer candidate Viljami Töhönen, just 23 years old and about 300 days into his training, he was commanding a platoon of four tanks, several armored personnel carriers and 50 troops," Liam writes. ("I could try to remember what I was doing aged 23 in London," Liam quips, "but let's move on." ) Please read the whole thing, adorable reindeer and all. Or, if video is more your thing, here's Liam squatting next to some Finnish soldiers: A President Without a Plan | Elsewhere in wartime preparations, let's contrast the approaches of the United States and Finland. According to Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, President Donald Trump's war plans are "incoherent and incomplete." Unfortunately, that tracks with history. As Tim O'Brien writes, "Trump showcases himself as a great dealmaker, even though his business career was pockmarked with bankruptcies. He says he's an astute steward of the economy, even though he has pursued self-defeating and damaging tariff policies. He promised to rightsize the federal government but instead birthed the clown rodeo known as DOGE. He vowed to seal America's porous borders — and did — but then launched a lethal and grotesque deportation campaign that has scarred communities nationwide. He wants the US to be more affordable for struggling voters but is now waging a war that may savage their wallets." Contemplating that war from 40,000 feet in the sky on a plane skirting Iranian airspace, John Authers says, "Trump's war aims have been confused and shifting, but he plainly doesn't want a protracted interruption to oil supply." On Thursday, the administration announced it was planning a 30-day exemption to the Jones Act — yup, the very one you read about on Monday — that should make it easier for oil, gas, diesel, liquefied natural gas and fertilizer to reach US ports. The logistics of the exemption, of course, are still being ironed out. Trump may excel at self-preservation and self-aggrandizement, but a planner he is not. |
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