Supreme command and control of the armed forces: the roles of presidents, parliaments, governments, ministries of defence and chiefs of defence
ENIn the following chapter I will consider the origins of and bases for the chains of command in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, i.e. each country’s starting point in the establishment of control over its armed forces. I will then look at the various historic events in each country that were essential for, and served as turning points in, the development of the concept of democratic control of the armed forces, and explain the processes of relationship building in the chain of command at the strategic level. At the end of the chapter, I will outline the similarities and differences in the three Baltic states and identify the major (internal) factors that shaped the development of democratic control of their armed forces. There is a general perception that the processes of developing the three states’ armed forces from scratch and shaping their democratic control ran smoothly. The evidence from the study presented here suggests that the development has, indeed, been largely evolutionary, but has seen at least some revolutionary features. [p. 123-124].
