The Baltic quest to the West: from total defence to 'smart defence' (and back?)
ENThis chapter does not recount the above narrative in detail. Instead, it critically re-examines, with the benefit of hindsight, the key debates, issues and challenges encountered by the three countries in their quest to join western security organisations. The chapter consists of five parts. The first part discusses the reasons for and logic behind the integration efforts of the Baltic states and tries to understand them in a broader historical context. The second part elaborates the alternatives that were presented to the Baltic states in the run up to the double enlargement. In the third part, the author discerns the key enablers that ultimately allowed Baltic membership of NATO to happen. The fourth part discusses the key dilemmas that Baltic policy makers and defence planners have faced along the way. The fifth part offers an assessment of NATO’s performance vis à vis Baltic expectations and vice versa – the Baltic states’ achievements and failures with regard to NATO’s requirements. [p. 47].
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