This thesis discusses one of the most serious security challenges faced by the Baltic states since regaining their independence. This security challenge is a product of Russia’s assertive foreign policy towards its western neighbours, which has intensified after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. In order to understand the rationale behind the Kremlin’s policy in the region, the thesis aims to analyse how internal and external factors shape the foreign policy of Russia towards the Baltic states. By taking neo-classical realism as its theoretical framework, the thesis uses mixed research methods for collecting data and applies qualitative content analysis to analyse the three main factors that shape Russia’s Baltic policy. The thesis identifies that NATO’s actions in the anarchic international system raise security threats towards Russia. This shapes Putin’s threat perceptions and compels him to react with counteractions, and since the foreign policy in Russia is concentrated mainly in the hands of the president, his perceptions are decisive. Nevertheless, Putin is dependent on Russians’ support and exploits nationalist feelings of the Russian population to pursue his foreign policy. The thesis concludes that the combination of these three factors makes Russia’s foreign policy towards the Baltic states more aggressive.

This thesis defines the formation and consummation of Soviet Bolshevism as another imperialist force rather than its stated objective of freeing the people of the United Soviet Socialist Republics from the clutches of an inequitable elite. Through the policies and objectives of the Soviet government the workers and citizens of Ukraine and the Baltic republics were not liberated or given autonomy over their lives and labor, as Marxist-Leninism would have them believe. I review the Russification efforts found first in the Tsarist Russian Empire and then continued by Soviets in the nature of pursuing or denying cultural, political, and economic self-sufficiency.

No / Baltic Germans who were active on behalf of especially German minorities throughout Europe during the 1920s have already found some recognition in especially German-language studies. Now they are receiving a wider coverage. Two of these men, Werner Hasselblatt and Ewald Ammende, came from Estonia and played a part in the development of the cultural autonomy legislation enacted in 1925. Traditionally this has been counted a positive contribution to the management of Europe's minorities during the inter-war period. During the 1930s at the latest, however, both Hasselblatt and Ammende drifted towards German National Socialism. Through an investigation of the ideas of these men, this paper attempts to interpret lives which helped to create apparently progressive legislation in the 1920s, but which compromised with a dreadful political movement soon afterwards. What were the motives behind their actions?

Globalisation, a major aspect of English foreign language (EFL) education in the twenty-first century, can be described as the worldwide circulation of goods, services, and capital as well as information, ideas, and people. EFL educators encounter relentless demands to shift their positions, perspectives, and identities, and to assume many roles because they must accommodate new cultures and people in order to teach in their chosen field. We also have to accommodate differences in ideologically constructed representations of our roles as educators in terms of culture, class, gender, race, and religion within their various contexts. Thus, it can be difficult to determine exactly what one's role is in the context of globalisation. Using an analytic, auto-ethnographic, and naturalistic research design, I purposefully selected five EFL educators (six, including me) and investigated how we fit/belong at IPRIS, what our perceived roles as EFL educators are, and how our roles as EFL educators in full relate to globalisation. Bourdieu's experiences in Algeria, his theories arising from them, and Bhabha's notion of the third space, which is synchronistic with postcolonial theory, formed my theoretical framework. I collected data through interviews, reflexive journal, and critical incidents that were member checked to ensure trustworthiness. The inductively oriented data analysis yielded the themes and categories that are the foundation of this research. The emergent findings in this research were key in showing how the backgrounds of the participants positioned each of us so differently one from another as EFL educators. The varied ways in which the participants have discerned their roles as individuals and as EFL educators unfolded. The explicit commentary of all the participants in this study (including me) reflected a deep commitment to the needs of the students at IPRIS as we expressed our views on our roles. This research revealed the knowledge that I have built concerning myself, both in my context and in relation to others, by investigating the spaces in between coming and going, participant and researcher, educator and administrator; it has helped to reveal the fault-line spaces that shift in perspective and has thus helped me find my fit/belonging. The flipped researcher-participant roles allowed me to explain and further interrogate my own views of my role at IPRIS, as the primary participant, in relation to the secondary participants' perceptions of their roles. This research has also revealed both the positioning of the EFL educator and the space that English occupies globally, in which it has an opposing logic that sometimes results in hybridisation. The secondary participants' comments in this study reflected their perception that they needed to bring information from their prior experiences, both as educators and as people living in the world, to bear on their primary role of teaching English to Turkish students. Thus, none of the participants felt that they were enabled in their role, as all reported that they needed to add old experiences with the new in order to teach their assigned students and to navigate the terrain at IPRIS. Drawing from the definition of globalisation in the literature, I was also able to use the participants' current perceptions of the role of English as a global language to reveal their relationship to globalisation. As a result of my thesis research, I can recommend the use of analytic auto-ethnography as a form of professional development and evaluation. The degree of reflexivity involved can enable EFL educators at IPRIS and elsewhere to raise their own awareness of other people and of their institutional and cultural contexts.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to analyze and to compare the foreign policies of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia in the period from 1991 until 2004 and to reach a conclusion, whether the frequent and very common generalization of the foreign policies of those states is correct. The first part of the paper explores the main approaches to the analysis of foreign policy and state's national interest. In this part of the paper, the appoach to analysis of the state's national interest, offered by the Copenhagen school of theory is chosen, and this approach is then used in the second chapter of the diploma. The second part of the paper, examines the threats of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in political, societal, military and economic sectors. Finally, the conclusion describes the results of the analysis of each sector and provides the assessment and comparison of the main problems of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and of the ways in which the states were trying to solve them in the chosen time period. It is shown, that despite the fact, that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were often facing similar challenges, they did also have an abundant number of different and specific problems of their own, were not able to work in concert, and often showed resistance to be deemed as "Baltic". This leads to the conclusion that treating their foreign policies as a joint "Baltic foreign policy" is incorrect and can be misleading.

Pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais vis labiau populiarėjant sąvokai ,,regionų Europa”, regionams tampant vis svarbesniais veikėjais nacionaliniame ir tarptautiniame lygmenyje, daugiau dėmesio skiriama ir regionalizmo studijoms bei regionalizacijos procesams. Šie procesai neaplenkia ir Šiaurės šalių, kurios skatina bendradarbiavimą Baltijos jūros regione į regioninius procesus įtraukdamos ir Baltijos valstybes. Baltijos jūros regiono, kuriam priklauso tiek Šiaurės, tiek Baltijos šalys, raidos procesuose svarbus vaidmuo teko ir JAV, kurioms šis regionas tapo patraukliu dėl jo augančios įtakos regione bei Europoje, tuo pačiu tai buvo puiki galimybė JAV išsaugoti įtaką Europoje pasibaigus Šaltajam karui. Pagrindinis darbo objektas – Šiaurės ir Baltijos šalių bei JAV bendradarbiavimas regioninių iniciatyvų raidos kontekste. Darbe siekiama išnagrinėti Šiaurės ir Baltijos šalių bendradarbiavimo su JAV dinamiką, įvertinant šios supergalybės poveikį ir įtaką dviejų Baltijos jūros regione esančių subregionų bendradarbiavimui. Vertinant Šiaurės ir Baltijos šalių bendradarbiavimo su JAV tendencijas daugiausiai dėmesio skiriama regioninės grupės NB8, bendradarbiaujančios su JAV, formatui bei šios valstybės inicijuotai Sustiprintos Partnerystės Šiaurės Europai programai (E-PINE). Darbo tikslui pasiekti, buvo įvykdyti tokie išsikelti uždaviniai: apžvelgta regionų raidos ir regionalizmo/subregionalizmo samprata bei pagrindinės sąvokos ir terminai, aptarta regioninio lygmens analizės vieta politikos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In recent decades when the concept ‘Regional Europe’ is becoming more popular and regions are becoming more significant players on national and international levels, bigger attention is paid to regionalism studies and regionalisation processes as well. These processes have not bypassed Nordic countries, which promote cooperation within the Baltic region by involving the Baltic States into the regional processes as well. USA has received an important role in the processes of development of the Baltic Sea region, to which belong both Northern and the Baltic States; this region has become attractive to USA because of its increasing influence in the region and Europe, and it was a good opportunity for USA to maintain its influence in Europe after the end of the Cold war. The main object of this work is cooperation between Nordic - Baltic countries and USA in the context of development of the regional initiatives. This paper work tries to investigate dynamics of cooperation between Nordic and the Baltic States and USA by assessing the superpower impact and influence on cooperation of two sub-regional states in the Baltic Sea region. When assessing tendencies of cooperation between Northern and the Baltic States and USA, most attention is paid to the format (NB8+1) of regional group NB8 collaborating with USA, JAV, and Enhanced Partnership in Northern Europe (E-PINE) program initiated by this state. In order to achieve the goal, the following tasks have been fulfilled: review of... [to full text]

Nors populizmo terminas dažnai sutinkamas politikos moksluose, žiniasklaidoje, politikų ar paprastų piliečių retorikoje, populizmo tyrimai nėra paplitę ir tik pastaruoju metu labiau buvo susidomėta ir bandoma operacionalizuoti šią sąvoką. Lietuvoje populizmo tyrimų apskritai praktiškai nėra. Vis dėlto populizmo tematika yra itin aktuali: paprastai populizmas suvokiamas kaip žalingas stabiliam demokratijos veikimui ar, Rytų ir Vidurio Europos regiono atveju, tolimesniems demokratijos ir partinės sistemos konsolidacijos procesams. 2011-2012 m. parlamento rinkimai Baltijos valstybėse vyko po sunkios ekonominės krizės, kuri sukrėtė šį regioną itin stipriai, todėl populistinių politinių partijų sėkmės galimybės tapo dar didesnės. Pagrindinis šio darbo tikslas yra ištirti Lietuvos, Latvijos ir Estijos politinių partijų programas ir įvertinti jų populizmo apraiškas 2011-2012 m. rinkiminiu laikotarpiu. Norint pasiekti šį tikslą, pirmiausia verta atkreipti dėmesį į populizmo tyrimų raidą politikos moksluose. Egzistuojant daugeliui teorinių prieigų bei populizmo fenomeno sampratų, būtina apsibrėžti savąją populizmo tyrinėjimo prieigą ir aiškinimą. Šiame darbe remiamasi populizmo kaip demokratijos patologijos aiškinimu, kadangi jis labiausiai atliepia šiandieninio populizmo Europoje kontekstą. Tokiu būdu nagrinėjamas ir sudėtingas ryšys tarp populizmo ir modernios demokratijos. Populizmas šiame darbe visų pirma suprantamas kaip siaura ideologija, ši prieiga įgalina tinkamiausiai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Populism is a widespreaded conception, often used in the discourse of political scientists, media or common citizens. However, only in the recent period scientists attempted to adapt this conception to empirical research or to use a comperative approach. Populism researches in Lithuania practically do not exist yet. Nevertheless, populism topic is relevant: usually it is associated with negative impact on stable function of democracy, or in the context of East and Central Europe region – a setback for further democracy and party system consolidation. Parliamentary elections in the period of 2011-2012 occurred after harsh economical crisis in Baltic region, therefore potential populism success is more presumable. The main goal of this research is to analyse the election programmes of political parties in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the 2011-2012 parliament election period. To reach this goal, the study of populism research evolution in political sciences is made. One may find various theoretical approaches of populism phenomena, so scholar must adjust one particular explanation and theoretical approach. Populism as a pathology of democracy explanation is used in this study, because it most properly corresponds with recently context of populism in Europe. Consequently, the complex bond between modern democracy and populism phenomena is accomplished. I maintain that populism is primarily a thin ideology and this approach enables to analyse party programmes. Specific... [to full text]

In this dissertation, the experience of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during the crisis in 2008-2010 is analysed. Its aim is to find out why the Baltic countries chose and were able to implement the strategy of “internal adjustment”, i.e. kept fixed exchange rates and achieved fiscal sustainability via fiscal consolidation. Furthermore, it asks why Estonia was able to handle the crisis most successfully. Based on the theories of currency crises and fiscal consolidation, a theoretical model is constructed. The empirical investigation relies on both qualitative and quantitative (statistical) methods. It is found in the dissertation that conventional theories cannot adequately explain the Baltic situation during the crisis. Therefore, non-conventional factors are investigated. The Baltic willingness to defend the fixed exchange rates can be attributed to certain economic factors (high flexibility and indebtedness in foreign currencies), continuity in economic policy, causal beliefs, and non-economic functions of fixed exchange rates. The implementation of a very large fiscal consolidation package was possible due to weak trade unions, a high degree of centralization, causal beliefs about appropriate economic policies, weak interest groups and lack of societal mobilization capacity. Estonia’s better performance was due to better informal institutions, namely a higher trust in government, which allowed Estonia to collect more taxes during the crisis than Latvia and Lithuania. / Disertacijoje nagrinėjama Estijos, Latvijos ir Lietuvos patirtis per ekonominę krizę 2008–2010 metais. Siekiama atsakyti, kodėl Baltijos šalys pasirinko ir sugebėjo įgyvendinti „vidinio prisitaikymo“ strategiją, t.y. išlaikė fiksuotą valiutos kursą bei taupymo būdu atkūrė fiskalinį tvarumą. Taip pat klausiama, kodėl Estija sugebėjo susitvarkyti su krize sėkmingiausiai. Remiantis valiutos krizių ir fiskalinės konsolidacijos teorijų įžvalgomis, disertacijoje konstruojamas vidinio prisitaikymo teorinis modelis. Empirinėje dalyje derinami kokybiniai ir kiekybiniai (statistiniai) metodai. Atskleidžiama, kad Baltijos valstybių situacijos adekvačiai negali paaiškinti vyraujančios politinės ekonomijos teorijos ir jų siūlomi veiksniai. Todėl atsižvelgiama į papildomus, nekonvencinius kintamuosius. Baltijos valstybių politikų norą išsaugoti fiksuotą valiutos kursą didino ekonominės struktūros ypatumai (lankstumas ir įsiskolinimas užsienio valiuta), ekonominės politikos tęstinumas, idėjiniai įsitikinimai, ne ekonominės fiksuoto valiutos kurso funkcijos. Itin didelę fiskalinės konsolidacijos programą pavyko įgyvendinti dėl silpnų profesinių sąjungų, didelės centralizacijos, vyraujančių idėjų apie tinkamą politiką, silpnų interesų grupių, menkos visuomenės mobilizacijos. Estijos didesnę sėkmę gali paaiškinti kokybiškesnės neformalios institucijos, ypač pasitikėjimas valdžia, dėl kurio šioje valstybėje per krizę mokestinės pajamos krito mažiau nei Latvijoje ir Lietuvoje.

Disertacijoje nagrinėjama Estijos, Latvijos ir Lietuvos patirtis per ekonominę krizę 2008–2010 metais. Siekiama atsakyti, kodėl Baltijos šalys pasirinko ir sugebėjo įgyvendinti „vidinio prisitaikymo“ strategiją, t.y. išlaikė fiksuotą valiutos kursą bei taupymo būdu atkūrė fiskalinį tvarumą. Taip pat klausiama, kodėl Estija sugebėjo susitvarkyti su krize sėkmingiausiai. Remiantis valiutos krizių ir fiskalinės konsolidacijos teorijų įžvalgomis, disertacijoje konstruojamas vidinio prisitaikymo teorinis modelis. Empirinėje dalyje derinami kokybiniai ir kiekybiniai (statistiniai) metodai. Atskleidžiama, kad Baltijos valstybių situacijos adekvačiai negali paaiškinti vyraujančios politinės ekonomijos teorijos ir jų siūlomi veiksniai. Todėl atsižvelgiama į papildomus, nekonvencinius kintamuosius. Baltijos valstybių politikų norą išsaugoti fiksuotą valiutos kursą didino ekonominės struktūros ypatumai (lankstumas ir įsiskolinimas užsienio valiuta), ekonominės politikos tęstinumas, idėjiniai įsitikinimai, ne ekonominės fiksuoto valiutos kurso funkcijos. Itin didelę fiskalinės konsolidacijos programą pavyko įgyvendinti dėl silpnų profesinių sąjungų, didelės centralizacijos, vyraujančių idėjų apie tinkamą politiką, silpnų interesų grupių, menkos visuomenės mobilizacijos. Estijos didesnę sėkmę gali paaiškinti kokybiškesnės neformalios institucijos, ypač pasitikėjimas valdžia, dėl kurio šioje valstybėje per krizę mokestinės pajamos krito mažiau nei Latvijoje ir Lietuvoje. / In this dissertation, the experience of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during the crisis in 2008-2010 is analysed. Its aim is to find out why the Baltic countries chose and were able to implement the strategy of “internal adjustment”, i.e. kept fixed exchange rates and achieved fiscal sustainability via fiscal consolidation. Furthermore, it asks why Estonia was able to handle the crisis most successfully. Based on the theories of currency crises and fiscal consolidation, a theoretical model is constructed. The empirical investigation relies on both qualitative and quantitative (statistical) methods. It is found in the dissertation that conventional theories cannot adequately explain the Baltic situation during the crisis. Therefore, non-conventional factors are investigated. The Baltic willingness to defend the fixed exchange rates can be attributed to certain economic factors (high flexibility and indebtedness in foreign currencies), continuity in economic policy, causal beliefs, and non-economic functions of fixed exchange rates. The implementation of a very large fiscal consolidation package was possible due to weak trade unions, a high degree of centralization, causal beliefs about appropriate economic policies, weak interest groups and lack of societal mobilization capacity. Estonia’s better performance was due to better informal institutions, namely a higher trust in government, which allowed Estonia to collect more taxes during the crisis than Latvia and Lithuania.

Diss. Univ. Ghent, 2007. / Bibliogr. et index.