University of New Haven Co-Hosts International Conference with Yale to Examine Complex Geopolitical Past and Present of the Baltic Region

To say that the Baltic countries 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.

“But 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,” University of New Haven associate professor of history Dr. Bradley Woodworth said. “So even though these peoples speak very different languages, they have this shared past as being part of the Russian Empire.”

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

It’s in this context that Dr. Woodworth, as vice president for conferences with the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) for the past two years, organized the association’s annual conference held in New Haven over four days in June.

‘Advancing the practice and principles of democracy’

Co-hosted by the University of New Haven 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—with 12 of the panels chaired by University of New Haven 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.

“The University of New Haven agreed to be a co-sponsor, and Yale and AABS were happy to support that,” Dr. Woodworth said. “And 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.”

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

“As new frontiers of national and international security crystallize, the Baltic States are essential to advancing the practice and principles of democracy and reciprocity,” Dr. Frederiksen said.

“As a native of Denmark, I know firsthand the importance of this small but mighty frontier,” he continued, “and 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.”

Dr. Frederiksen also emphasized that the University of New Haven is increasingly becoming an epicenter for students preparing for careers in national and global security.

‘The Baltics have been leading the way’

At the end of his address, Dr. Frederiksen introduced University of New Haven 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 Plepytė, Estonia’s Kristjan Prikk, and Latvia’s Māris Selga.

“I talked about why the three Baltic countries should be considered the center of gravity for regional and global security,” Dr. Lennon said. “The Baltics have been leading the way in the West’s support of Ukraine in resisting Russian aggression. All three top the charts in terms of military aid for Ukraine relative to their GDP.”

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.

“In addition, these countries have consistently offered the most realistic assessments of Russia and the threat it has presented to regional and global security,” Dr. Lennon said.

‘It was about that sense of unity’

Dr. Woodworth’s 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.

“The Baltic region is actually what I wrote about in my dissertation, specifically about the tsarist period in today’s Estonia,” Dr. Woodworth said. “These 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.”

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.

“The theme of the AABS conference was ‘The Baltic Way,’” Dr. Woodworth said. “That phrase comes from an event that took place during the perestroika period under Gorbachev in the Soviet Union.”

That event was a peaceful demonstration 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—a distance of nearly 400 miles.

“It was this moment when the Balts realized they were in this struggle for independence together,” Dr. Woodworth said. Independence was secured 1991 with the collapse of the USSR.

“That kind of shared experience between the Baltic peoples certainly informed the AABS conference, which was not just about academic things,” Dr. Woodworth continued. “It was about that sense of unity.”