New IFZO Publication

IFZO postdoctoral researcher Dr. Andris Banka recently published an article in the pages of the Modern War Institute (West Point), a leading US institution for analysing non-traditional security threats. The published piece weaves together history, geography and defence studies in explaining how the Baltic states have quietly reinvigorated their historical tradition as “listening posts”. During the 1920s, the territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were considered to be ideal locations from which to keep abreast of developments inside Russia. For many Western diplomats and spies, they offered unmatched opportunities to collect valuable insights into the workings of the Soviet Union, a pariah state largely out of reach to foreigners. Riga, the Latvian capital, even became the principal listening post for Washington.

While such outposts are gone today, the article maintains that the Baltics’ role as places capable of producing valuable knowledge regarding Russian statecraft lives on through newly formed centres of expertise. During the past years, the Baltics have set up knowledge hubs, such as the Tallinn-based NATO Cyber Centre and NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Riga, that excel in analysing their much larger eastern neighbour. As countries near strategic crossroads they are well positioned to monitor Kremlin’s disruptive tactics and produce niche expertise in non-traditional domains. For this reason, one can argue that the Baltics have become NATO’s “eyes and ears”.

Link to full version of the article can be found here: https://mwi.usma.edu/natos-eyes-ears-baltics-listening-posts-alliances-competition-moscow/