RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONALOPPORTUNITIES IN THE

NORDIC REGION

Earl H. Fry, Professor of Political ScienceBrigham Young University

andFulbright Bicentennial Chair in American Studies

University of Helsinki2011-2012

Presentation at the Destination Europe ConferenceSan Francisco

December 6, 2012

Why Did I Select Finland?

• Perfect fit with the needs of the University of Helsinki—the North American Studies program was looking for an expert in North American Studies—I am a political scientist but also an endowed professor in Canadian Studies and have, in addition, done significant work on NAFTA and Mexico

• It was a very nice fit for my own research agenda as I will discuss shortly. Initially, my preference was geared toward France because I have lived there off and on for 4 years, taught at the Sorbonne for a year, and speak French. However, the fit with host universities was not as good.

How Is Finland Different than the U.S.?

• Relatively large country geographically with a population of 5.4 million. Indeed the entire population of the Nordic countries (26 million) is 2/3rds the population of California (almost 38 million)

• The overall distribution of wealth and income is far different than the U.S.—Finns are from Lake Wobegon—all above average

• Finnish society is much more homogeneous– 3.8% foreign born vs. 12.5% in US & 12.9% OECD– Officially bilingual with 91.5% speaking Finnish as

a first language and 5.5% Swedish– 82% Lutheran although religiosity much lower

than in U.S.• Over 80% of Finns are urbanized and roughly

one-quarter of the entire country lives in the greater Helsinki metropolitan area

• Daylight is much more “noticeable” in this northern outpost. Helsinki is in southern Finland but on this date, December 6, the sun came up at 9:07 a.m. and set at 3:16 p.m. However, next June 21, the sun will come up at 3:54 a.m. and set at 10:50 p.m. (mid-summer period)

• Snow is also very important physically and psychologically

• I am a San Franciscan by birth but Markku Henriksson came me sage advice on my arrival about living in Finland

• Unlike the United States, Finland developed as a society in a much more challenging regional environment– Swedish legacy– Russian legacy– WWI– WWII (cold beets story)– Cold War period– Current period—EU and Eurozone

Life in General in Finland

• My wife and I loved living in the center of Helsinki—cultural opportunities are plentiful and varied

• The Finns tend to be “reserved” but are very decent and very honest—we were treated extremely well

• The university classroom situation has much in common with the U.S. and students do ask questions. They take personal responsibility for the quality of their work and do not make excuses. The classroom dynamic is made even more interesting by the Erasmus student program

UN HDI Rankings, 2011 (187 Countries)

• Norway #1• Sweden #10• Iceland #14• Denmark #16• Finland #22

Research in Finland

• Finland has excellent research facilities and great linkages to the other Nordic countries and other parts of Europe

• Many collaborative projects use English as the first language

• Internet speeds tend to be much faster and cheaper than in the United States

resources

environment

energy

conflictweapons proliferation

crime

economics cyberspace

immigration

religion and ideology

culture

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS ARE TRANSFORMING LIFE IN NORTH AMERICA

INTERNATIONAL SECTOR

NORTH AMERICAN CITIES & NEIGHBORHOODS

terrorism

sports and entertainment

disease

If U.S. States Were Nations 2011

© 2012 Earl Fry

My Research Project

WHY THE UNITED STATES IS PERHAPS ASUPERPOWER IN RELATIVE DECLINE

(1) The rise of competitor nations and groups of nations (China, EU, etc.); BRICs; few decades ago, China and India considered peripheral players in global economy—represent collectively almost 36% of humanity

(2) The potent combination of (a) globalization; (b) unprecedented technology change; and (c) creative destruction; 2008-627,000 businesses created and 665,000 lost; 2009—25.1 million jobs created, 30.6 million lost (out of total of 154 million civilian labor force 16 years +); March 2011—civilian labor participation rate 64.2%--lowest since 1984

(3) 15 major “fault lines” within the United States

AMERICA’S 15 DOMESTIC FAULTLINESBeltway Follies

Campaign FinancingGovernment Debt

External Debt and Dwindling Importance of the U.S. DollarEntitlement Explosion

Health CareEducation

Plight of the American HouseholdThe New Gilded Age and Wall Street’s Debacle

Infrastructure DeteriorationIntergenerational Strife and Festering CleavagesImmigration and the Failure to Attract the Best

and the BrightestFederalism

General Apathy and a Paucity of Civic EngagementU.S. Foreign Policy

RENAISSANCE AMERICA

Wide Diversity of Research and Scholarly Activities

• My experience serving on Fulbright advisory committees dealing with young Finn scholars coming to the U.S. and senior American scholars going to Finland

• Research proposals tend to cover the spectrum from liberal and fine arts, STEM topics, social sciences, etc.

• Importance of making preliminary contacts with counterparts in Finland or other Nordic countries before submitting Fulbright applications or other types of grant proposals

• The challenge of “trans-Atlantic drift and global shift”—it can be confronted successfully