The Foreign Policies of the Baltic States
Interwar Years and Restoration
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8912285 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Olav F Knudsen (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 47-72 |
| Publication date | 1993-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cooperation and Conflict (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0010-8367 • E-ISSN: 1460-3691 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0010836793028001003 |
| OpenAlex | W2005558542 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 19 |
The article surveys and analyzes the foreign policies and relevant domestic political conditions of the Baltic states since 1918, emphasizing the period after 11 March 1990. The general argument is that small states located near a great power can choose between alliance with their more powerful neighbor, alliance with his chief rival, or some kind of neutrality. Above all, rim states must pay attention to great-power diplomacy. In the interwar years none of the Baltic states seemed to appreciate that their situation necessitated such thinking and such choices. None used the Western powers to counter-balance the Soviet Union or Germany. Only Lithuania drew on the Soviet Union as a partner. A policy of neutrality remained untried. Between the wars, what governed their foreign policies, besides their lack of appreciation of great power politics, was a concentration on their own local affairs. After March 1990, an `interregnum period' followed, with internal strife about the proper direction of foreign policy. Four phases of alternating confrontation and negotiation characterized Moscow-Baltic relations in the period up to the aborted coup. The achievement of independence in September 1991 brought a concentration on domestic concerns. Today the unintegrated Russian-speaking and Polish minorities contribute to domestic instability, which easily spills over into foreign affairs. The last section discusses the Baltic states' security policies and possible future security arrangements, accentuating the need for a subregional solution including all coastal states on the Baltic Sea
Alliance · Diplomacy · Economics · Economy · Foreign policy · Great power · Independence (probability theory · International relations · Neutrality · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · European Politics and Security · European Union Policy and Governance · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law
Alliances and small powers
The survival of small states
The Soviets in World Affairs
Regional Great Powers
Alliances and Small Powers, by Robert L. Rothstein
The Baltic States
The Soviets in World Affairs. A History of the Relations between the Soviet Union and the Rest of the World, 1917-1929
Expansion and Coexistence
The Power of Small States
Churchill and Roosevelt
The Functions of Small States in the Strategies of the Great Powers
The Catholic Church, Dissent and Nationality in Soviet Lithuania
Finlandization
The Power of Small States
Models of Neutrality
Weak states in the international system
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,19 |
| Citation span | 1995 - 2006 (12) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |