JOBS Journal on Baltic Security 2382-9230 2382-9222 BDC 10.2478_JOBS-2020-0008 Research Article Comprehensive defence in Latvia – rebranding state defence and call for society’s involvement Atmante Kristine kristine.atmante@baltdefcol.org ∗ Kristine Atmante, is a PhD student and lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Latvia, and works at the Baltic Defence College, E-mail: kristine.atmante@baltdefcol.org * The views presented in the article are those of the authors own and do not represent any official views of the affiliated institutions Corresponding author. 6 2 31 45 04 12 2020 04 12 2020 29 10 2020 29 10 2020 CC-BY 2020 Kristine Atmante This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This article explores how comprehensive defence has been introduced in Latvia, and focuses on society’s involvement and tasks in the state defence. This approach envisages a significant change in society’s relationship with the armed forces and state defence. Differently from many other countries, Latvia maintains its system without introducing conscription and instead puts efforts towards youth education in defence. Additionally, the Ministry of Defence involves different society groups and NGOs in defining their role in state defence. This article also discusses the concepts of resistance and non-collaboration as part of comprehensive defence.

 comprehensive defence total defence resistance