The world we live in is not as peaceful as it used to be. This forces us to consider the various aspects of war, which is why most of February’s double issue of Diplomaatia explores ways of waging war and war zones.
Hanno Pevkur, the Estonian Minister of the Interior, writes about the importance of self-assertiveness in the information war Estonia is facing. “The first big question of our strategic communication is how to abandon the defensive position and instead defend ourselves by playing offence,” says Pevkur. “This means asserting ourselves in a brave and confident manner.”
Urve Eslas, Andres Herkel and Andrei Hvostov comment on Pevkur’s article.
Rene Toomse, Kenneth Geers and Richard Weitz write about different aspects of warfare. Vaidas Saldžiūnas, Igor Kopytin and Oleksandr Kiriienko contribute to the discussion with articles on the military importance of Kaliningrad and Ukrainian volunteers.
Kai Kaarelson, foreign-policy adviser to President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, looks back at the president’s contribution to foreign policy and writes that Estonia’s greatest security threat lurks within the country’s borders. “Our internal security consists of human honour and respect, and the ability to cooperate and consider others; the ability to see and understand how others think, even if you do not always agree with them. As long as we search for contrasts between ourselves, we will never be fully independent or free from fear,” writes Kaarelson.
In January, 150 years had passed since the birth of Jaan Poska, and to commemorate this occasion Diplomaatia interviewed Peeter Järvelaid, Professor of Law History and Comparative Law at Tallinn University and Chairman of the Board of the Jaan Poska Memorial Foundation. Professor Järvelaid is convinced that Poska was helped by his life experience in negotiating the Tartu Peace Treaty with the Bolsheviks.
“Although Jaan Poska spent only a year studying to become a doctor at university, he got from it an attitude that every doctor, clergyman and lawyer must have— always to be ready to communicate with people with whom one personally would never wish to talk,” writes Järvelaid.
ICDS’s research fellow Piret Pernik reviews a collection of essays on cyber warfare published late last year.
This article was published in ICDS Diplomaatia magazine.