While eyes are focused on jihadist patoralists in the Sahel. . .

On April 4, 2023, Finnish NATO membership was confirmed.¹³ On the one hand (or depending on who one asks), the agreement only formally ratified the already-existing long-term cooperation between Finland and NATO: both it and neighboring Sweden have participated in NATO-led operations and exercises as enhanced members since 2013. On the other, the agreement has marked a major geopolitical rift from proclaimed Nordic neutrality.¹⁴ Additionally, the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) was signed with the United States on December 18, 2023. The DCA was unanimously passed by parliament on July 1, 2024. The agreement allows US military access to fifteen Finnish bases, including across the Sápmi lands, and the potential creation of US-only military zones in Finland.

Sápmi, the term for the Sámi Indigenous territory across the Northern Scandinavian and Kola Peninsulas, spans the borders of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. In the face of increasing militarization in Sápmi, Indigenous reindeer herders have been concerned over the future of their herds, their livelihoods and the material basis of Sámi culture, with little avenue for political influence. The Sámi parliament in Finland was neither consulted nor informed in advance that the DCA included the Sámi homeland region of Ivalo as a site of potential US troops and weapons storage.¹⁵ US troops and civilians sent to Finland and Indigenous territories under the agreement will be subject to US, rather than Finnish, law. 

https://spectrejournal.com/tearing-down-the-welfare-state/