This paper examines the issue of integrating Muslim immigrants into Finnish society, and the potential problems inherent in that process. This is a fascinating topic since it is something that will affect all our lives in a very concrete way.

In an effort to be fair and balanced, the paper looks at both Finns and Muslim immigrants in order to identify potential obstacles to successful integration. The ability of Finns and Muslim immigrants to overcome those obstacles is also weighed. The bedrock for all the arguments in the paper is the precedents that have occurred in other EU countries. Finally, the global war on terror is also mentioned as an additional complicating component.

Things I Would Do Differently If I Were Writing This Again

The main thing I would do differently is that I would plan the entire paper much more carefully. As it is, it took me no less than 8 drafts to complete the paper and some of that is attributable to me not having sufficient focus early on. I arrived at the final topic only through a process of trial and error.

The Original research component could also have benefited from a rethinking. I didn’t really think to pay enough attention to the respondents as I was gathering the responses. I did not, for example, tally the exact numbers of men and women, as it simply did not occur to me that that might be significant.

I’m inclined to blame these oversights on the fact that this is the first time I’ve conducted a survey like this, and also, I was mostly concerned about obtaining information that would not be tainted by considerations of political correctness. The results seem “realistic,” so I consider that effort to have been mostly successful. As a curious aside, I could also mention that question 5 was evidently flawed in some way, as there were two respondents who failed to answer it satisfactorily.

Additional Finnish Research Topics

For those who have an interest in the past, it might be interesting to ponder exactly how Finland ended up in a situation where it is dependent on massive amounts of foreign laborers. In other words, how exactly did the “retirement boom” come into being?

For those with a more forward-looking perspective: this paper basically asks two questions: will there be problems? What will those problems look like? The obvious follow-up question would be: How can one solve those problems? In the hopes of securing an answer for this question, one could look at other nations where integration efforts have actually been successful, namely, America.

Equivalent American Research Topic

It appears that the U.S. has done and is doing a much better job of integrating its immigrants, even the Muslim ones. Even after 9/11, there haven’t really been any significant instances of unrest attributable to Muslim immigrants. There certainly haven’t been any mass riots or terrorist bombings.

It seems that Finland (and all of Europe) could benefit immensely from an examination of the reasons behind America’s seeming success in its integration efforts. One might start such an examination by looking at the obstacles to integration mentioned in this paper, and then seeing how Americans have chosen to address those concerns.