Nordic-Baltic Region

Connecting the Baltic States to Europe’s Gas Market

More than two decades after the end of the Soviet occupation, and eight years after they joined NATO and the European Union, the Baltic republics remain disintegrated from the rest of Europe in one crucial way: their natural gas infrastructure isolates them into “energy islands.” Yet, for the first time in their histories, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania now have a chance to secure their energy independence by connecting their natural gas networks with those of their European allies and evolving them into market-based trading systems. This will require the Baltic republics to work with their EU partners to develop the physical and regulatory infrastructure necessary for liquid trading hubs and spot-market pricing of natural gas to emerge in the region. By achieving these objectives, these three small countries on the EU’s periphery will help the EU achieve two key strategic goals: to establish a single European energy market; and to complete the full integration of the EU’s easternmost member states into a Europe that is whole and free.

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Connecting the Baltic States to Europe’s Gas Market

More than two decades after the end of the Soviet occupation, and eight years after they joined NATO and the European Union, the Baltic republics remain disintegrated from the rest of Europe in one crucial way: their natural gas infrastructure isolates them into “energy islands.” But, for the first time in their histories, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania now have a chance to secure their energy independence by connecting their natural gas systems with those of their European allies and evolving them into market-based trading systems. This will require the Baltic republics to work with their EU Allies to develop physical and regulatory infrastructure required for liquid trading hubs and spot-market pricing of natural gas to emerge in the Baltic region. By achieving these objectives, these three small countries on the EU’s periphery will help the EU achieve two key strategic goals: to establish a single European energy market; and to complete the full integration of the EU’s easternmost member states into a Europe that is whole and free.

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Forecasting the Baltics’ Future Security Environment

Every few years, the U.S. National Intelligence Council (NIC) publishes studies of how the world might evolve over the next two decades. Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds, released in December 2012, is the latest such iteration. Its four scenarios include one in which the United States turns inward and economic globalization stagnates (“Stalled Engines”); one in which non-state actors like activists and corporations assume the lead role in addressing international challenges (“Nonstate World”); a best-case world in which China and the United States catalyze global cooperation on a range of problems (“Fusion”); and a worst-case future of growing inequality and conflicts between and within countries (“Gini Out-of-the-Bottle”).

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Baltic-Nordic-US cooperation as a vehicle for democratic change

20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Nordic-Baltic region stands out as Europe’s success story. The Baltic countries, which were seen by many as potential sources of tension in the early 1990s, have become stable democracies, firmly anchored in the Western institutions. The whole region has benefitted from the opening up of borders and the free movement of people, goods and capital; and in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 economic crisis it has become the corner of Europe where prudent and timely – in some cases even radical – measures have led to energetic economic growth, unburdened by excessive government debt.

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Albatros’ down

Such things happen, time and again, in the air forces of various countries. The “birdies” crash once in a while, no matter how reliable and well-maintained is the equipment, how good is the training or how experienced are the pilots. (Just ask the Finns about their pretty regular experience with losing their “Hornets”). A French “Mirage” and a Lithuanian “Albatros” apparently got a little too intimate during the routine training session near Šiauliai airbase in Lithuania and “kissed” each other mid-air. Tough love, “Albatros” down. Good luck though — no casualties at all.

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From de-securitisation to re-securitisation: Sub-regional multilateralism around the Baltic Sea

This paper traces the development of sub-regional multilateralism around the Baltic Sea from the building of regional security via de-securitisation to cooperation through the re-securitisation of certain issues of common concern. We map the sub-regional cooperation formats in and around the Baltic Sea basin, trying to account for the factors that have contributed to their emergence and discuss their continuing relevance today. Our central aim is to capture the logic and dynamics of sub-regional cooperation in the Baltic Sea region by identifying the most significant shifts in sub-regional multilateralism over the last two decades.

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