Small States in the Shatter Belts: Demographic and Geopolitical Challenges of the Baltic States

The book aims to highlight the challenges faced by small states located in zones of geopolitical instability. Drawing on Saul P. Cohen’s theoretical concept of the shatter belt, it discusses a geopolitical region characterized by significant instability, owing especially to the influence of neighbouring powers.

The book defines the challenges related to the geopolitical position of Baltic Europe and describes them as manifestations of the shatter belt. It details the historical conditions of the small Baltic states: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, with reference to their geopolitical position within the Russian sphere of influence and after the collapse of the USSR. This study also focuses on the exploitation of national minorities as one the main challenges to the national security of the Baltic states.

As a pioneering study on the role of small states as peacekeepers, allies, and members of international organizations, this book will be a valuable resource for students and doctoral candidates in international relations, geopolitics, and political geography. It will also be useful to experts, journalists, and policymakers.

Agnieszka Bógdal-Brzezińska is associate professor in University of Warsaw (Poland), Faculty of Political Sciences and International Studies. She specializes in the history of international relations and the role of political decision-makers in international relations. She has also been researching cyberspace and digital technologies as factors in IR. Her research also focuses on superpowers and geopolitical problems of the international order. She publishes in the area of theory of international relations, especially theoretical approaches: postmodernism and postcolonialism.

Jan A. Wendt is professor at the University of Gdansk (Poland) at the Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management. Visiting professor at universities in Astana, Almaty and Petropavl. Geographer, political scientist and historian. Ph.D. honoris causa from University of Oradea. In the years 2012-2020 member of the Steering Committee of the Political Geography Commission of the International Geography Union. He publishes on the topic political geography, power, tourism and transport, geopolitics, international relations, spatial aspects of the formation and evolution of democratic systems and national security.