Estonia, along with its neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, is the new West Berlin of Europe. Weak defense sends a dangerous signal to the Kremlin. But defending the Baltic states in isolation is all but impossible. NATO could build a Maginot Line on the border of the Baltic states and they would still be vulnerable: Russia is too big, too strong and too close. The only hope is deterrence: to project the impression that an attack on the Baltic states or Poland would result in NATO retaliation against every other part of Russian territory. In other words, defending the Baltics is like defending West Berlin during the Cold War: You have to be willing to threaten a global confrontation, or else you give up and go home. The Baltic states represent, moreover, not just NATO’s front line, but something else. All three are post-Cold War success stories—Estonia most of all—and models for the future. But Estonia, amid the former Soviet bloc’s economic stagnation, political decay and geopolitical uncertainty, stands out as a beacon of hope and achievement. In just over two decades, it has become one of the most admired and successful countries in the world, to the point that Obama is making an unprecedented bilateral visit there next month. So what is Estonia’s secret? And what lessons does it hold for others? By Edward Lucas politico/magazine/story/2014/08/only-obama-can-stop-putin-now-110264.html#.U_e2p_lcjD4
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 21:39:22 +0000
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