Abstract: The subject of this study is the dynamics of the position of the right-wing populist party "Finns Party" regarding Finland's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) at the present stage (2011–2026). An analysis is conducted on the transformation of the party's ideology from traditional isolationism and non-alignment neutrality to justifying the need for Atlantic integration. During the research, statements from party representatives, program documents, and materials from party conferences were studied, reflecting the evolution of the position on membership in the military alliance. The aim of the study is to investigate the reasons for the shift in the official rhetoric of the "Finns Party" regarding Finland's Atlantic integration under the influence of geopolitical changes in the region. The significance of the political science concept of "Finlandization" and its role in the foreign policy shift of Finnish right-wing populists is also discussed. The main methods used include historical and systemic methods. In addition, the method of ideological analysis was used. The analysis conducted showed that the party's transition to supporting Atlantic integration is driven by rational realism, dictated by objective political factors. These factors include characteristics inherent to the "Finns Party" as right-wing populists (high dependence on public opinion, emphasis on national security issues) and the unique specifics of the Finnish political landscape (historical memory of "Finlandization," neutrality influenced by political and economic factors). It is demonstrated that the foreign policy shift was made in the process of reconciling the party's rhetoric with the demands of the electorate in the context of a national security crisis. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the analysis of the adaptation of ideological positions of right-wing populism to new geopolitical challenges. The studied problem allows for determining the degree of inclination of right-wing populists toward political flexibility under the influence of external circumstances.

Keywords: Finns Party, Right-wing populism, Finland, Russian Federation, NATO, Finlandisation, Atlanticism, European security, Neutrality, National security

Abstract: The subject of this study is the process by which the memory of the Nanking Massacre became one of the central elements of the People’s Republic of China’s state memory policy. This work examines the evolution of perceptions regarding the events of December 1937 – January 1938 across three periods: from the limited commemoration of the Nanjing Massacre amid the dominance of a revolutionary-heroic narrative in 1949–1978 to the institutionalization of collective trauma in 1978–2005 and its subsequent canonization and international representation. The main research question is to explain why the Nanking Massacre, rather than other episodes of mass violence during the Second Sino-Japanese War, has acquired a special status in the PRC’s official historical narrative. In this regard, the study analyzes the symbolic characteristics of the event, the political conditions under which its memory was actualized, the forms of state commemoration, and the changing functions of this memory in the process of constructing national identity. The study combines a historical-descriptive reconstruction, comparative and problem-oriented chronological analysis, as well as a functional analysis of state memory policy. The conceptual framework is based on J. Alexander’s theory of cultural trauma, M. Halbwachs’s concept of the social framework of memory, and A. Assmann’s theories on cultural memory. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the development of a model that explains the unique position of the Nanjing Massacre in the PRC’s politics of memory by correlating the event’s symbolic potential, the state’s political agenda, and the mechanisms of memory institutionalization. Six factors of the Nanjing Massacre’s symbolic potential are identified: the city’s political and historical significance; the concentration of various forms of mass violence; a high degree of documentation; the presence of foreign witnesses and international resonance; its spatial and temporal localization; and the possibility of a universal moral interpretation. It has been established that the combination of these factors created the preconditions for the symbolic generalization of the event, but did not automatically transform it into a collective trauma. This process developed after the launch of reform policies and was carried out by incorporating the memory of Nanking into patriotic education, the national calendar, museum infrastructure, official ceremonies, and the PRC’s international activities. It is shown that at various stages, the memory of the Nanking Massacre served identity-forming, legitimizing, consolidating, and mobilizing functions, and that after 2005, its mobilizing potential became subject to state regulation.

Keywords: Nanjing Massacre, memory politics, collective trauma, national identity, People’s Republic of China, Second Sino-Japanese War, memory studies, commemorative practices, institutionalization of memory, historical policy