Researching Baltic security challenges after the annexation of Crimea
Volume 5, Issue 1 (2019), pp. 41–52
Pub. online: 1 June 2019
Type: Research Article
Open Access
Received
20 April 2019
20 April 2019
Accepted
30 April 2019
30 April 2019
Published
1 June 2019
1 June 2019
Abstract
The article aims to provide an insight into academic and military studies that investigate security challenges
in the Baltic region after the annexation of Crimea. To do this in a systematic way, numerous academic and military studies and analyses in this field are divided into six broad categories: literature on conventional threat scenarios in the Baltic region; studies on nuclear escalation scenarios; publications that describe Russian viewpoints in the current confrontation with the West; studies that discuss security policy and security perceptions of the Baltic countries and the national security models of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; studies on anti-access and area denial; and articles that analyse the dilemmas and challenges in association with understanding the essence of deterrence in the context of
modern hybrid warfare and the build-up of a viable deterrence model in the Baltic region. In total, about 40 publications from the period between 2014 and 2019 are represented in this article. While some studies are already well known, others have undeservedly remained somewhat overlooked. This article attempts to correct this by highlighting and comparing the results of the most interesting and intriguing studies in this field. Through this, the author strived to maintain a balance between studies conducted both by military experts and by academics.