The End of the Liberal World Order: What Comes Next for the Baltic States?

Описание: The Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies hosted an online roundtable discussion on "The End of the Liberal World Order: What Comes Next for the Baltic States?" on Monday, May 5, 2025, from 12:00-1:00 pm ET.

Following the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has been the main advocate for a rules-based liberal world order that champions democracy, free trade, and human rights. The Baltic states eagerly signed on, as exemplified in their successful efforts to obtain EU and NATO membership in 2004, and have benefitted from the system. But this world order is no more. With Donald Trump's 2025 return to power, the U.S. will no longer be the advocate it once was. Other powers, chiefly Russia and China, welcome this change and seek to reshape the international system in accordance with their own values and imperial interests. What do these changes mean for the Baltic states and their neighbors? How will the American retreat from defending liberal values affect European and Baltic security? What actions can the Baltic states take to ensure the prosperity and freedom they have enjoyed for the last few decades?

These and other questions were tackled by Volodymyr Dubovyk (Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University), Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova (Riga Stradiņš University), and Andres Kasekamp (University of Toronto). The webinar was moderated by former United States Ambassador to Venezuela Charles Shapiro and welcome remarks were delivered by AABS President Jörg Hackmann (University of Szczecin).