AV天堂网

To say that the of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have experienced instability in their histories would be a significant understatement. Since the ninth century at least, the region has endured invasions from the Kingdoms of Denmark and Poland, German traders, and, from across the Baltic Sea itself, the Kingdom of Sweden.

鈥淏ut the big constant for so many of the peoples in this part of Eastern Europe has been Russia, which expanded beginning in the 16th century, and then into the Baltic region in the 18th century,鈥� AV天堂网 associate professor of history Dr. Bradley Woodworth said. 鈥淪o even though these peoples speak very different languages, they have this shared past as being part of the Russian Empire.鈥�

Today, Russia continues to loom over the region, due to Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin鈥檚 invasion of nearby Ukraine.

It鈥檚 in this context that Dr. Woodworth, as vice president for conferences with the for the past two years, organized the held in New Haven over four days in June.

鈥楢dvancing the practice and principles of democracy鈥�

Co-hosted by the AV天堂网 and Yale University on the Yale campus, the conference featured panels from all fields of the humanities and social sciences, education, technology, transnational security, safety, and well-being鈥攚ith 12 of the panels chaired by AV天堂网 faculty members. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Shaily Menon, Ph.D., and School of Health Sciences Dean Betsy Francis-Connolly, Ph.D., also chaired panels. Faculty members Maria Tcherni-Buzzeo, Ph.D., (criminal justice) and Matthew Schmidt, Ph.D., (national security) presented papers as part of the proceedings.

鈥淎V天堂网 agreed to be a co-sponsor, and Yale and AABS were happy to support that,鈥� Dr. Woodworth said. 鈥淎nd I was able to secure the participation of President Frederiksen, who gave a wonderful address, stressing the value of scholarship in protecting our collective future.鈥�

President Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D., gave his remarks as part of the final plenary session where all attendees at the conference were present鈥�325 participants from 21 different countries鈥攊ncluding the ambassadors to the United States from the countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

鈥淎s new frontiers of national and international security crystallize, the Baltic States are essential to advancing the practice and principles of democracy and reciprocity,鈥� Dr. Frederiksen said.

鈥淎s a native of Denmark, I know firsthand the importance of this small but mighty frontier,鈥� he continued, 鈥渁nd I am excited to learn more about the dynamic and vibrant academic, economic, and cultural ecosystem as well as centers of excellence currently flourishing in the Baltic States.鈥�

Dr. Frederiksen also emphasized that the AV天堂网 is increasingly becoming an epicenter for students preparing for careers in national and global security.

鈥楾he Baltics have been leading the way鈥�

At the end of his address, Dr. Frederiksen introduced AV天堂网 practitioner-in-residence in National Security Dr. Olena Lennon, who moderated the conversation between the three Baltic ambassadors to the United States: Lithuania's Audra Plepyt臈, Estonia鈥檚 Kristjan Prikk, and Latvia鈥檚 M膩ris Selga.

鈥淚 talked about why the three Baltic countries should be considered the center of gravity for regional and global security,鈥� Dr. Lennon said. 鈥淭he Baltics have been leading the way in the West鈥檚 support of Ukraine in resisting Russian aggression. All three top the charts in terms of military aid for Ukraine relative to their GDP.鈥�

Ukrainian-born Dr. Lennon, an expert in Eurasian geopolitics and security, also noted that the Baltic countries have taken in more Ukrainian refugees than most countries in Europe, except for Poland. Each Baltic country has accepted anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 refugees, which is roughly 3% of their respective populations.

To put these numbers in perspective, if the U.S. accepted a similar number of Ukrainian refugees relative to its population, that number would exceed 1 million Ukrainians, comprising the entire annual immigration allowance for the U.S.

鈥淚n addition, these countries have consistently offered the most realistic assessments of Russia and the threat it has presented to regional and global security,鈥� Dr. Lennon said.

鈥業t was about that sense of unity鈥�

Dr. Woodworth鈥檚 own history with the Baltic region goes back to his days as an undergraduate at BYU, when he studied in Finland and went on to major in Russian, and then get his doctorate in Russian history from Indiana University.

鈥淭he Baltic region is actually what I wrote about in my dissertation, specifically about the tsarist period in today鈥檚 Estonia,鈥� Dr. Woodworth said. 鈥淭hese are independent countries now, but the lands that are Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire under Peter the Great and Catherine the Great in the 18th century.鈥�

Dr. Woodworth added that despite their political and cultural independence, there is a history of shared action between the three Baltic nations. For instance, all three collaborated together and eventually became part of the European Union, as well as NATO.

鈥淭he theme of the AABS conference was 鈥楾he Baltic Way,鈥欌�� Dr. Woodworth said. 鈥淭hat phrase comes from an event that took place during the perestroika period under Gorbachev in the Soviet Union.鈥�

That in August 1989 when people from all three nations literally held hands, flew flags, and sang songs from the capital of Estonia all the way down to the capital of Lithuania鈥攁 distance of nearly 400 miles.

鈥淚t was this moment when the Balts realized they were in this struggle for independence together,鈥� Dr. Woodworth said. Independence was secured 1991 with the collapse of the USSR.

鈥淭hat kind of shared experience between the Baltic peoples certainly informed the AABS conference, which was not just about academic things,鈥� Dr. Woodworth continued. 鈥淚t was about that sense of unity.鈥�