Foreign Affairs and Security is a relatively new field of expertise in the Baltic states. Under the USSR, the development of social sciences was highly centralised, and the option to study international relations or political science locally didn’t exist. Today, there are a dozen geopolitics-driven organisations in the Baltics and they are all based in the biggest cities: Kaunas, Riga, Tallinn, Tartu, and Vilnius. Whether state-funded or not, most of them conduct fairly independent research and are more than capable of contextualising their insights in the global security environment.

Furthermore, recently, they have been expanding their interest. Some widen their territorial focus by encompassing new regions, such as South Asia or Eurasia; others engage in interdisciplinarity, combining security studies with other subjects, such as technology or communications. Each think tank description here includes some details on its founders and present financing, a few sentences on the scope of their activities, their most significant innovations and/or achievements; as well as links to their publications, organised events, and other productions in English.

Estonia

International Centre for Defence and Security is a state-funded policy research institute based in Tallinn. Active since 2006, it became the leading think-tank in the field after merging with the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute in 2018. The Centre employs around forty experts, and although its flagship events—such as the Lennart Meri Conference and Annual Baltic Conference on Defence—are centred around the Baltics, the scope of its research is not limited to the region. It publishes an Estonian language magazine Diplomaatia, and many publicly accessible English language reports on global and regional security.

Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies is a branch of the publicly funded Tartu University. It carries the name of the Baron who founded the University in 1632. However, the institute itself took its present shape only after the fall of the Soviet Union. It blends conventional political science and area studies with research on trends in communication technologies. Expert groups, such as the Centre for Eurasian and Russian Studies or De Facto States Research Unit offer insightful and freely accessible reports on their web pages.

Baltic Defence College is a NATO-accredited military education and training facility based in Tartu. The three Baltic countries jointly founded it in 1999 – it is a descendant of the Baltic Peacekeeping Battalion. The Nordics supported the college’s foundation, but Baltic states have funded it independently since 2004. It employs around fifty personnel, some of whom conduct independent research. The college publishes the bi-annual Journal on Baltic Security and organises the Annual Conference on Russia seeking to predict its future actions.

NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence is a research and training organisation based in Tallinn. Six states founded the Centre in 2008 and almost forty NATO members and partners have joined financing it since then. With fifty experts in their staff, it offers competencies in four areas: technology, strategy, operations, and law. They organise the world’s largest cyber drills and the International Conference on Cyber Conflict. A highlight among their products is the €70 Tallinn Manual, a guideline for countering and exploring cyber incidents. They also offer free of charge resources, such as the INCYDER policy documents database or the Cyber Law Interactive Toolkit.

Lithuania

Geopolitics and Security Studies Centre is a partially state-funded think-tank based in Vilnius founded by the government and Vilnius University. Starting from the ground in 2006, the Centre now employs around twenty experts focusing on Eurasia, transatlantic security, and civic resilience. They offer publicly accessible reports and policy reviews, hold an annual Foreign Policy Conference, and contribute to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs magazine Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review. The majority of the Centre’s research production concerns Lithuania’s national interests and/or its role in the world.

Institute of International Relations and Political Science is a branch of the publicly funded Vilnius University. Jesuits founded the University in 1579. However, the institute is much newer—taking its present form in 1992. Its staff of over fifty experts conduct research in various areas of political science, such as: political economy, feminist policy, critical theory, and politics of technology. Some of their publications are freely accessible on the institute’s website. However, their language is more often Lithuanian than English. The institute also organises an annual Lithuanian Political Science Conference.

NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence is a military think tank based in Vilnius. Six states created it in 2012 and nine other members and partners have joined them in running the Centre recently. The Centre organises research and training in energy resilience, efficiency, and critical infrastructure protection. Given its location, its primary focus territory is, of course, the Baltic region. However, the Centre’s researchers also explore global energy security trends and developments. They publish regular Energy Highlights, short briefings called In Less than 1000 Words, and many other freely accessible reports: risk assessments, technical analyses, commentaries, and event proceedings.

Latvia

Latvian Institute of International Affairs is an independent think tank operating in Riga since 1992. Swedish donors helped found it. However, the institute currently declares it does not receive its core funding from governments or non-governmental actors. It’s over forty fellows and administrators carry out research and organise prominent regional security events, such as: Riga Security Forum, Riga Dialogue, and Riga Conference. Their proceedings and over a hundred other publications are freely accessible on the institute’s website. A significant portion of them, including the Latvian Foreign and Security Policy Yearbook, are in English.

Centre for East European Policy Studies is a non-governmental research organisation based in Riga. It began its activities in 2006 and has been steadily focusing on Russia. The Centre sustains itself through individual projects supported by various donors, including international foundations and local government institutions. The Centre’s nine employees offer fifteen freely accessible publications on general topics—e.g. war in Syria, or Russia’s foreign policy, ten of which are in English.

Centre for Geopolitical Studies Riga is an independent think tank active since 2022. It unites five researchers who focus on the Baltic states, the relationships among them, and their role in the world. The Centre’s research activities consist of: Baltics, Resilience, and Central Asia programs, as well as the Belarus Observatory. However, its only regular publication, Latvia’s Security Barometer exclusively concerns Latvia’s security. The Centre refers to Latvia’s Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs as its partners and declares that US arms dealing companies support its publications.

NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence is a defence think tank based in Riga. Six states founded it right after Russia annexed Crimea, and the Centre’s member count has been growing ever since. The Centre‘s function is offering strategic communication advice to Alliance. Given its location, the Baltic region gets the most attention, and for some time, its primary focus was countering Kremlin‘s disinformation campaigns. However, many of the more recent freely accessible Centre reports cover a variety of global topics, such as AI and platform regulation. The Centre’s team also organises an annual StratCom Dialogue conference, some recordings of which are available on the Centre’s Youtube channel along with the #StratComPodcast.

This list of Geopolitics and Security think tanks active in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia was compiled by human beings. This is not a complete inventory, but rather a curated selection of well-performing organisations preoccupied with security studies. If you wish to report a mistake, add another entry to the list, or for any further inquiries, please contact us at team@fixers.press.