Russia's European Agenda and The Baltic States - Defence ...

Russia’s European Agenda
and the Baltic States
by
Janina Sleivyte
Introduction
States exist in a certain space, defined by their geography, historical experience and
culture. This space is in the process of a constant change, and the dynamics impacts on
the political processes of states, their relations with neighbours and their geopolitical
orientation. This equally applies to the main subjects of this monograph - Russia
and the Baltic States.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has been reshaping
her policy. The Baltic States, since the restoration of their independence in 1990,
have also been redefining their place in the region and on the continent. Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania, a number of historical and cultural differences between them
notwithstanding, are often not differentiated in the context of international relations
but treated as a whole - the ‘Baltic States’. Their common history of the 20th century
provides justification for this treatment.
Putin’s Russia is a largely authoritarian state with a state directed, although
mostly private, economy and a weak civil society. Russia has never developed into a
Western European democratic type of state, albeit this chance was given to her many
times. Although Russia initially relinquished some of her power as the country fell
into disarray following the USSR’s dissolution, she is undergoing recovery and her
influence over the world is rapidly increasing, driven the growing need for her energy
resources.
Having realised her limitations, Putin’s Russia has refused a messianic
doctrine and acts within the framework of classical concert of the great powers.
This implies that Russia dropped open confrontation with great powers but has not
abandoned the ambition of restoring her greatness so as to enable her to challenge
the West. Russia probably will never again be a superpower but she can aspire to
become a ‘major power of the second rank’ 1 – more important than any of the other
European powers because of her size, geo-strategic position and energy riches – the
biggest hydrocarbon reserves in the world. Moreover, to underpin her self-esteem,
Russia possesses some 2000 nuclear missiles and still remains the only power in the
world, which can maintain the balance of mutually assured destruction with the
United States. This confirms that Russia is an important player on the European,
Asian and global scenes.
There is no question that the current Russian foreign policy is the foreign policy
driven largely by President Vladimir Putin. Two catchphrases used to describe Putin’s
presidency are – ‘pragmatism’ and ‘active diplomacy’. In this context, a key specific
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