The PhD project examines the concept of neutrality within Finland’s foreign policy and its development from the declaration of independence in 1917 until the NATO accession in 2023 from a discourse linguistic perspective. Since Finnish neutrality was never enshrined in law (as for example was the case in Switzerland), it took various forms during the period under review – from passive non-intervention in times of war and freedom from alliances in times of peace to an active mediating role and a soft power in international conflicts with the goal of cultivating Finland’s image as a skilled negotiator to generate trust, credibility, and ultimately greater scope for action in foreign policy. These manifestations of Finnish neutrality have so far primarily been researched in the fields of history and political science, while a systematic investigation of the language use in connection with the concept has yet to be conducted. However, it is precisely this use of language within societal discourse that plays an essential role in constructing, establishing, and negotiating meanings and narratives. The aim of my project is therefore to address this gap in research by examining the discourse on Finnish neutrality using the linguistic multi-level discourse analysis (DIMEAN) developed by Spitzmüller and Warnke (2008). Using a corpus of editorials and newspaper commentaries, a quantitative analysis of statistically significant linguistic patterns will be combined with a qualitative analysis of key texts representing dominant strands of discourse and their counterarguments to reveal the shifts in meaning as well as the continuities and breaking points in the narratives surrounding Finnish neutrality. A particular focus of the project lies in the expectations regarding Finland’s role within the Baltic Sea region and Europe, as well as the role of the narratives of neutrality in the context of Finnish national identity.