As the world has watched the war in Ukraine and seen the evidence of the threat posed by Russia, among those who sense that threat most acutely are the three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The fundamental facts of these states’ existence—their comparatively small size, proximity to Russia, and position on the northeastern flank of the NATO alliance—combine to make the threat both direct and real.
But what can the three countries do to deter Russian military aggression in the future—and defend against that aggression should it occur? Just as importantly, what can NATO do to contribute to both? That’s the subject of this episode of the MWI Podcast. In it, John Amble is joined by Mark Cancian. A retired Marine officer and senior adviser with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he is also the author of a recently published report, “Repel, Don’t Expel: Strengthening NATO’s Defense and Deterrence in the Baltic States.”
From the need to scale up NATO’s presence in the Baltics to the challenge of adapting force structure to make combined NATO forces ready and capable to the challenges the alliance has experienced in fulfilling commitments it has made at successive summits, the conversation addresses a range of subjects integral to the effort to enhance the defense of these three NATO allies.
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Image credit: Spc. Charles Leitner, US Army