31. Finland's President Alexander Stubb on Political Philosophy, Power & a World in Transition

What can political philosophy teach a president about leadership, power, and a changing international order?

In this episode of Tocqueville Talks, Alexander Stubb, President of the Republic of Finland, joins Tocqueville Center Director Brent Nelsen and Beth L'Arrivée for a conversation about political philosophy, European and international affairs, liberal education, technology, and the ideas that have shaped his approach to political leadership.

Stubb's intellectual path began in an important way at Furman University. Long before becoming Finland's president—and after a career that has included academia and senior positions in Finnish and European politics—he was a Furman political science student encountering international relations and the great texts of political thought.

Stubb reflects on how that education helped shape his commitment to open societies, democracy, constitutional government, the rule of law, and international cooperation. He discusses thinkers including Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Machiavelli, and especially John Locke, whose Second Treatise of Government helped reinforce his understanding of liberal democracy and constitutional government.

But what happens when political philosophy encounters political reality?

Stubb emphasizes the limits as well as the importance of theory. Politics ultimately involves human beings: personality, relationships, emotion, judgment, and circumstances that cannot be captured fully by theoretical models.

That tension leads to one of the central ideas of his approach to international affairs: values-based realism.

Stubb describes the challenge of holding together two demands. Democratic countries should remain committed to values such as freedom, equality, justice, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. At the same time, international politics requires dealing with states that may not share those principles. Foreign policy therefore requires both a commitment to values and a realistic understanding of interests, power, and political circumstances.

The conversation also turns toward education and human flourishing. Stubb reflects on Finland's relationship with nature, the connection between physical and intellectual life, and the importance of sustained reading. Drawing on Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, he considers whether social media, smartphones, and artificial intelligence are weakening our capacity for sustained attention—or whether technology can instead be used as an instrument for deeper thought.

Finally, Stubb reflects on the changing international system. The period that followed the end of the Cold War, he argues, is coming to an end. But rather than claiming that a clearly defined new order has already arrived, he emphasizes that we are living through a period of transition whose outcome remains unsettled.

For Stubb, that uncertainty also creates a responsibility for the next generation. Today's students will not merely inherit the world that follows the post-Cold War era; they will help shape it.

At its heart, the conversation asks:

How can political leaders remain committed to democratic principles while confronting the realities of power in a changing world?