ABSTRACT

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Lithuanian foreign policy by employing the theory of small states and the agent-perspective to assess how President Dalia Grybauskaitė impacted Lithuanian foreign policy in 2009–2019 and which, in turn, could affect changes in international structures. The book is based on original interviews with Grybauskaitė and all her foreign policy advisors, as well as other Lithuanian diplomats and Ministers of Foreign Affairs. In addition to providing an important case study of Lithuanian foreign policy, this monograph also discusses the impact an agent formulating and executing small-state foreign policy may have on the ‘grand structures’ of international relations, such as the EU and NATO. For its investigation of the mutual relationship between agent and structure, this monograph draws on the literature on foreign policy analysis (FPA) and asks questions about the extent to which a particular leader of foreign policy may determine a specific policy decision or outcome.

This book will be of particular interest to students of the Baltic region and Russia-Baltic relations, as well as to political scientists and researchers interested in FPA literature, and small-state security.

chapter 1|9 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|24 pages

Theoretical background

Structures, agents, and small-state strategies in foreign policy

chapter 4|21 pages

The Baltic States

Between cooperation and competition

chapter 5|24 pages

Russia

The reset that never was

chapter 6|27 pages

Relations with the USA

CIA prison, defensive plans, Obama, and Trump

chapter 7|22 pages

Relationship status with Poland

‘It’s complicated’

chapter 8|25 pages

Ukraine

The revolution that started in Vilnius

chapter 9|28 pages

The European Union and the search for leadership

From the Nordic countries to Germany

chapter 10|21 pages

Relationship with Israel

chapter 11|13 pages

Conclusions

Lithuanian foreign policy changes and Grybauskaitė’s legacy