The Shadow in the East: Vladimir Putin and the New Baltic Front

The
Baltics are about to be thrust onto the world stage. With a ‘belligerent’
Vladimir Putin to their east (and ‘expansionist’ NATO to their west),
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are increasingly the subject of unsettling
headlines in both Western and Russian media. But how real are these fears, subject
as they are to media embellishment, qualification and denial by both Russia
and the West? What do they mean for those living in the Baltics - and for the
world?

Based
on her extensive research and work as a journalist, Aliide Naylor takes us inside the geopoltitics of the region. Travelling to the heart of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania she explores modernity in the region that birthed Skype, investigates smuggling and reports of troop movements in the borderlands, and explains the countries’ unique cultural identities. Naylor tells us why the Baltics matter, arguing persuasively that this region is about to become the new frontline in the political struggle between East and West.