Between Russia and europe

the role of national identities in international relations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

Resumo

Thirty years after the restauration of their independence,
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are now members of the
European Union and demonstrate little affinity with
Russia, heir to the USSR. What is the role identity discourses
in their foreign policy choices? We argue that Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania define their national identities – and
therefore the thrust of their foreign policies – according
to a logic of triangular attraction and repulsion towards
Russia and Europe. Based on the Self/Other dichotomy,
this article identifies how meanings associated with Baltic
national identities were incorporated into their foreign
policies after the fall of URSS. More specifically, the
article examines the discourses of Russification and/or
Sovietisation and Europeanisation, how these discourses
differ from one another, and how the Baltic states respond
to those influences in constructing their foreign policies.