This article analyses the difficulties of visionary foreign policy thinking, by

presenting a unique experiment that we conducted in the small state context of Finland in

2013‒2014. We invited eminent International Relations scholars to write lengthy newspaper

columns contemplating the country’s future foreign policy avenues. The starting point for

these contributions was a counterfactual present wherein Finland could afford to expend a

substantial amount of additional resources on its external affairs, without the traditional sense

of cautiousness symptomatic of the country. The insights attained throughout the experiment

warrant reflection upon the utility of such heuristic devices as tools for future-oriented policy

making. The exercise highlights a number of issues pertaining to the relationship between the

disciplinary contours of IR and the concrete challenges of the policy world. Above all, the

article calls for a nuanced use of the structure-agency continuum for coming to terms with the

everyday complexities of foreign policy making.