The Baltic Security Foundation connects regional experts in Riga and Washington

The Baltic Security Foundation (BSF) is a non-governmental organization promoting Baltic regional security and defense. The focus of BSF – Baltic security – is important given several major international issues that pose risks for the Baltic Sea region and over eighty million people who live there and form the North and East flanks of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – the strongest global alliance, as well as the European Union – the largest global economy. 

The security risks make the Baltic attractive to other countries which want to diminish the organizations that the Baltic Sea countries have joined to amplify their military and economic strength. As most of the Baltic Sea countries have strategic partnerships with the United States, those who want to challenge the Americans are also challenging American allies. 

Direct challenges to Baltic security include regional aggression waged by Russia and policies of Belarus complementing the aims of Moscow. The conventional warfare in countries across the border from the Eastern Flank of NATO and the EU is aggravated by civilian displacement and migration from Ukraine and the Middle East. 

Indirect regional challenges include factors that weaken European political unity in both response to conflicts along its Eastern and Southern borders as well as the further form of European integration. A major global challenge is the potential advantage in strategic competition with the United States that China may seek out of disorder in Europe. 

The forthcoming change in the U.S. leadership may increase uncertainty, however, the American decisions under the previous Trump administration complemented Baltic security (especially but certainly not only) in defense cooperation. Furthermore, the issues of European security that are irritating the U.S.-European relations mostly do not apply to the Baltic NATO members owing to the proactive augmentation of national defense resources. 

The BSF team hosted and joined high-level events to increase awareness about the previously mentioned security risks and opportunities for the Baltics and their allies.

At the NATO Washington Summit, the BSF co-hosted a conference on the results of the Summit together with The Jamestown Foundation and Texas A&M University Bush School of Government & Public Service. The opening remarks were given by Ambassador John Herbst (Atlantic Council) and Ambassador Kurt Volker (Center for European Policy Analysis), giving their views on the accomplishments and necessary additions to NATO decision making today. The following panel discussion joined Kateryna Shynkaruk, Olevs Nikers and Peter Mattis, moderated by Otto Tabuns. 

The speakers analyzed the Summit outcomes for the Baltic, the Black Sea, and Asia-Pacific Regions. Questions included the United States response to the Chinese-Russian partnering and the impact on war in Ukraine, the established and missing elements of long-term NATO-Ukraine cooperation, as well as the next steps for Baltic societies and national industries to complement their respective comprehensive national defenses. The event was attended by 150 American and European diplomats, security experts and scholars. 

The BSF team was also invited to join the NATO Summit Opening Reception hosted by the Embassy of France in the United States and Center for European Policy Analysis, as well as the NATO Diplomacy Reception by the Atlantic Treaty Association and The Fund for American Studies.

In Riga, the BSF hosted the third Baltic Sea Security Conference in September 2024 on Euro-Atlantic security in the age of uncertainty. 

Previously held in Helsinki and Berlin, the Baltic Sea Security Conference brought together the BSF network of Baltic experts and provided an open and direct debate on the most important issues of regional security. This year the conference joined experts from the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Baltic Defense College, The Jamestown Foundation, the Sciences Po, The Institute of World Politics, and the Swedish Retired Officers Academy. 

The participants included members of parliaments and armed forces, politicians, diplomats, lawyers, international relations researchers, educators, and youth leaders from Austria, the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, Georgia, France, Estonia, India, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Portugal, Norway, Slovakia, Finland, Ukraine, Hungary, Uzbekistan and Germany.

The experts underlined the significance of the new NATO's Northern flank for the security of the Euro-Atlantic area and analyzed the lessons learned for the Nordic and Baltic countries from the Russia-Ukraine war. In view of the wider European security framework that impacts the Baltic Sea region, the experts discussed the social and political processes in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Romania, and Bulgaria. Additionally, the participating experts from Europe and North America gave their views on Russia-China cooperation and its impact on NATO against the backdrop of conflicts in Eurasia and the presidential election in the United States.

In addition to events, the BSF team continued work on its two major programs engaging and supporting scholars and educators.  

As a part of the Transatlantic Security Exchange, BSF hosted Professor Gabriela M. Thornton and her graduate students from Texas A&M University Bush School of Government & Public Service for their capstone project on Baltic security. Consulted by the BSF team, the professor and her graduate students conducted in-depth studies of particular aspects of regional security for half a year. The project was concluded by a study visit to Latvia to discuss preliminary findings with security, defense, military, and diplomacy experts and decision-makers on the ground. The results are going to be presented in the Spring of 2025 at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. 

Within the BSF Education Program, the BSF team responded to educators from 10 schools to host lectures and workshops on the analysis of international events, based on the BSF books and reports. The most recent event in December in Jelgava was attended by 45 teachers. This served the purpose of enriching the study materials the educators can use and adding to sources that students can use for advanced-level social studies cases dealing with international politics.

Another cornerstone of reaching out to international scholars who focus on the Baltics includes professional internship placements. BSF is going to continue its cooperation with Stanford University for the third year in a row, as well as the University of Groningen, and Texas A&M University, and initiate cooperation in internship placements with several other Western European institutions of higher education. In doing so, the BSF achieves its objective by increasing the global number of highly trained specialists who also focus on the Baltic case of European security.

For more information, write to the BSF at [email protected] on our efforts to promote and foster Baltic regional security and defense.