Baltic Sea

Ten years ago in 2014, Baltic defense was paltry. The defense budgets of the three Baltic states, but especially Latvia and Lithuania, were suffering from the financial crisis of 2008, and their armies were all negligible. Baltic defense was...

The title of this essay would have been a little bit different if I had spent five more days in Odesa as planned. “50 days in Ukraine, 1,005 days in war.” That would be a neat summary of my...

Significant and, arguably, profound changes took place in Baltic high politics over the past four years. The peak pandemic years — 2020 and 2021 — proved quite pivotal for both Lithuania and Estonia, as both saw the emergence of...

This article was originally written as a USAWC Fellow Strategy Paper for the United States Army War College under the direction of Dr. (COL Ret.) Robert Hamilton. On August 23rd, 1989, an estimated two million citizens from the countries...

In October 2024, Lithuania’s opposition Social Democratic Party (LSDP) emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections, defeating the center-right Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD), which had been in power since 2020. The Social Democrats secured 52 seats, while...

Ben Gardner-Gill: Hello, and welcome to Baltic Ways, a podcast bringing you insights from the world of Baltic Studies. I’m your cohost, Ben Gardner-Gill. Professor Andžej Pukšto is a political scientist based at Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania. His...

Years before Russia started its full-scale war against Ukraine, the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, correctly assessing the Russian threat, implemented far-reaching reforms to end their energy dependence on Russia. Successful implementation of multiple infrastructural projects and...

Lithuania’s Governing Coalition Battered in a General Election Lithuania’s general election has resulted in a crushing defeat for the incumbent center-right government, led by Ingrida Šimonytė. The largest party of the outgoing governing coalition, the Homeland Union, lost nearly...

This week, Dr. Indra Ekmanis participated in a US Helsinki Commission briefing, “Contesting Russia: Lessons from Central & Eastern Europe.” Read her opening remarks below as she highlights how the Baltic states play an essential role in shaping a...

The US election is approaching quickly with implications for America's allies in the world. ...