ABSTRACT
Over the last decade, Latvian foreign and defence policy has been domi-
nated by the race for European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) membership. Latvian accession to both organizations
in 2004 is indicative of the success of the substantial domestic reforms that
resulted in the consolidation of democracy and a market economy and the
establishment of a society based on the rule of law. Since accession, the
internal Latvian debate on security and foreign policy issues reflects that of
other member states. Thus contemporary Latvian concerns largely coincide with those of regional and international organizations. At the same time
Latvia and the other Baltic states are, from time to time, criticized for living
within the old security paradigm while Western democracies make the
transition from a modern to a postmodern security agenda (see Chapter 1,
pp. 7-8).
