The Problem of Political-Geographical Self-Identification of the Baltic States: the Historical Past vs the Objective Present
https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2018-0-3-25-35
Abstract
Today, the term "the Baltic states" is used, as a rule, as an umbrella-name for the three former Soviet republics - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The grounds to unify them into a single construct are, above all, their geographical location, as well as some parallels of state development, deeply rooted in the mass consciousness. However, the problem of whether these grounds are sufficient to speak of a single "Baltic identity" shared by three states, or whether its unifying potential is limited to providing an "umbrella term" convenient under certain circumstances, is still a matter of research interest. How relevant today is the idea of a unified "Baltic identity" of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and how does it correlate to other types of political and geographical identities of these countries?
About the Authors
V. VorotnikovRussian Federation
Vladislav V. Vorotnikov - PhD (History), Research Fellow, CES, IISt, MGIMO-University; Associate Professor, Department for European and American Studies MGIMO-University
A. Chekov
Russian Federation
Alexander D. Chekov - Lecturer, Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Russia
References
1. The Baltic States in the EU: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Studies&Reports 98. A. Grigas, A. Kasekamp, K. Maslauskaite, L. Zorgenfreija; foreword by E. Buzek. Paris: Notre Europe-Jaques Delors Institute; July 2013. 100 p. - URL: http:// www.eng.notre-europe.eu/011-16347-The-Baltic-states-in-the-EU-yesterday-today-and-tomorrow.html.
2. Brazauskas A. Pyat’ let Prezidenta: sobytiya, vospominaniya, mysli [Five Years of the President: Events, Memories, Thoughts]. Moscow: Uniprint, 2002. 623 p.
3. Huang M. Why the “Baltic States”? Central Europe Review. November 29, 1999. Vol. 1. No. 23. — URL: http://www.ce-review.org/99/23/amber23.html
4. Ilves T. Estonia as a Nordic Country. Address at the Swedish Institute for International Relations in Stockholm on December 14, 1999. — URL: https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/toomasilvesestonianordiccountry.htm
5. IstoriyaLitvy [History of Lithuania] / A. Ejdintas, A. Bumblauskas, A. Kulakauskas, M. Tamoshajtis. Vilnius: Eugrimas, 2013. — URL: http://www.eu2013.lt/lt/pirmininkavimas-ir-es/kulturine-programa/Lietuvos-istorija
6. Jaanson K. The Baltic Sea Region in International Relations of the Twentieth Century: The Seminal Nature of the Interwar Period. Journal of Baltic Studies. 2001, Fall. Vol. 32. No. 3. P. 267—288.
7. Kazekamp A. Istoriya baltijskih gosudarstv [History of the Baltic States]. Tartu: University of Tartu Press, 2014. 398 p.
8. Ken O. N., Rupasov A. I. Zapadnoe prigranich’e. Politbyuro CK VKP(b) i otnosheniya SSSR s zapadnymi sosednimi gosudarstvami [West Frontier. Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) and Relations of the USSR with the Western Neighboring States]. Moscow: Algoritm, 2014. 720 p.
9. Klemeshev A. P., Korneevec V. S., Pal’movskij T., Studzhinicki T., Fedorov G. M. Podhody k opredeleniyu ponyatiya “Baltijskij region” [Approaches to Defining the Baltic Region]. Baltijskijregion. 2017. Vol. 9. No. 4. P. 7—28.
10. Kolosov V.A, Borodulina N.A. Geopoliticheskij diskurs i otnosheniya mezhdu Rossiej i stranami Baltii [Geopolitical Discourse and Relations Between Russia and the Baltic Countries]. Mirovaya ehkonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. 2007. No. 9. P 97—106.
11. Miniotaite G. Convergent Geography and Divergent Identities: a Decade of Transformation in the Baltic States. Cambridge Review of International Affairs. 2003. Vol 16. Issue 2. P. 209—222.
12. Mygird N. Different Paths of Transition in the Baltics. Copenhagen’s Business School Center for East European Studies (CEES) Working Paper. 1997. No. 5. 37 p. - URL: http://openarchive.cbs.dk/bitstream/handle/10398/7085/wp05.pdf?sequence=1
13. Paulauskas K. The Baltic States: Picking Regions, Shedding Myths, Decoding Acronyms. Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review. 2005. Issue 1-2 (15-16). P 51-64.
14. Pol’sha: politika, ehkonomika, obshchestvo [Poland: Politics, Economics, Society] / V. V. Vorotnikov, N.S. Dymshits, A. A. Gabarta, G. M. Lesnaya, A.V. Mal’gin, U. Moskva; ed. by A.V. Mal’gin. M.: Izdatel’stvo “Aspekt Press”, 2016. 240 p.
15. Simonyan R. H. “Okkupacionnaya doktrina” v stranah Baltii: soderzhatel’nyj i pravovoj analiz [“Occupation Doctrine” in the Baltic States: A Substantive and Legal Analysis]. Gosudarstvo ipravo. 2011. No. 11. P 106-114.
16. Simonyan R. H. Strany Baltii: obshchee i osobennoe (social’no-ehkonomicheskij aspekt) [Baltic Countries: General and Particular (Socio-economic Aspect)] // Voprosy ehkonomiki. 2002. No. 9. P 105-116.
17. Snyder T. The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569—1999. New Haven & London: Yale University Press: 2003. 384 p.
18. Tynyanova O.M. Evropejskaya shahmatnaya doska: mittel’shpil’ v “Mittel’evrope” (k 625-letiyu Krevskoj unii i 600-letiyu Gryunval’dskoj bitvy) [European Chessboard: the Middle Game in Mittel Europe (to the 625th Anniversary ofthe Krevo Union and the 600th Anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald)]. Prostranstvo ivremya. 2010. No. 1. P 79-90.
19. Vorotnikov V. V. Vneshnyaya politika gosudarstv Baltii v nachale XXI veka [Foreign Policy of the Baltic States at the Beginning of the 21st Century]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo “Aspekt Press”, 2015. 272 p.
Review
For citations:
Vorotnikov V., Chekov A. The Problem of Political-Geographical Self-Identification of the Baltic States: the Historical Past vs the Objective Present. Journal of International Analytics. 2018;(3):25-35. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2018-0-3-25-35