[William Tell II]

Hmmmm. As a conservative in Europe, I can tell you that the best defense against an aggressive neighbor is guns in every home with trained shooters. It doesn't hurt to mine your own mountain passes and be in a position to damage any military advance. Don't sell Finland short -- it fought a war with the Bolsheviks governing the Soviet Union (a slightly different population group than what is ordinarily thought of as Russian) and for all practical purposes, it won.

[1rudeboy]

I would go farther and argue that one of the reasons that Finland is non-aligned, and that the Baltic nations seek admission to NATO, is their performances during WW2. The Soviets paid dearly for invading Finland, and never subjugated that country, while the Baltics were a speed-bump for both the Bolshies and the Nazis.