Lessons learned and identified for the small states based on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine: analysis of the case of Latvia

Abstract

The history shows that each state must stand by and for itself for the cause of its independence and security and that it is especially complicated to survive on the international arena for the smaller states, nearing such an aggressive superpower like Russia. When aggressively influencing the target state, Russia utilized various forms of warfare and war, i.e., conventional warfare, narrative warfare, war of disinformation, war of influence, manipulation and information operations, cyberwarfare, and religious warfare. All these are in violation and ignoring the frame of international law, causing widespread suffering for Ukraine having global negative consequences. The current paper is based on the analyses of the concept of small states. Based on the case of Latvia, the goal of the paper is to analyze lessons learned and identified for Latvia and other small states based on the war in Ukraine. A period from Russia’s invasion in 2022 to late 2023, i.e., a nearly two-year period since the war in Ukraine began, is chosen to be examined within the scope of the current research. The research has been carried out with qualitative research methods – document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Interviews have been conducted with the experts in the field. The content analysis – a quantitative research method is also used in the work.