Baltic Sea

Lithuania Reinstates Conscription: Implications on Security, National Identity, and Gender Roles

In March 2015, the Lithuanian government reinstated conscription, which had previously been suspended in 2008. Each year between 3,000 and 3,500 men aged 19 to 26 years are to be enlisted in the military for nine months. Recently, the...

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Blunting Moscow’s Sword of Damocles Policy in the Baltic Region

Lithuanian Security Culture: Contrasts and Contradictions

Although NATO and even Scandinavian partners have stepped up efforts to provide security to Eastern Europe over the past two years there is a continued emphasis on the need for NATO, and specifically the U.S., to do more in...

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Lost in Conflation: The Estonian City of Narva and Its Russian-Speakers

Media accounts suggest that the Baltic Sea region is reaching a boiling point. Russian military actions and irredentist aggression in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea have dramatically altered our understanding of the region. Journalists, security experts, and scholars alike are...

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Putin’s Conundrum: The Baltic Region, Unconventional Threats and a Rising Russia

The provocative Russian actions in the Baltic Sea against the USS Donald Cook last week suggest that Moscow is implementing a more aggressive approach towards NATO and the United States in particular.  Yet, this should not be a surprise,...

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A Baltic Anchor For Weathering Storms

Baltic Security And The Nord Stream Two Pipeline

Lithuania Moves to Tackle Challenges Posed by Emigration

Over 15% of Lithuania’s population has left the country since it joined the European Union in 2004. Persistent high rates of emigration present both economic and social challenges to Lithuania.  Most of the emigrants are young, skilled, and well...

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Lithuania Moves to Bolster Electricity Security

Discussions of security in the Baltic states often focus on the countries’ need to control their border with Russia. These countries’ complicated electricity relations with Russia raise important security questions, too. Some Baltic security analysts fear that Russia could...

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Latvia’s New-Old Government