Fully Appreciated with Time? The Role of the United States of America in Latvia’s Security Discourse
What has been the role of the United States of America in Latvia’s security discourse? According to the official, and academic, interpretation, it is first and foremost a “strategic partnership,” a highly trustworthy guarantee of Latvia’s national independence. However, a more in-depth analysis allows us to deconstruct this concept of partnership and to elucidate alternatives, showing the broad spectrum of discourses and sub-discourses which underlie Latvian-American relations. This article shows how the narrow, “traditionally” military-strategic concept of security relations with the US has been defended and contested by different official and non-official actors in Latvia, and what changes (if any) have appeared over the years.
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