Joseph Rothschild Book Prize Honorable Mention Strategic Frames analyzes minority policies in Estonia and Latvia following their independence from the Soviet Union. It weighs the powerful influence of both Europe and Russia on their policy choices, and how this intersected with the costs and benefits of policy changes for the politicians in each state. Prior to EU accession, policymakers were slow to adopt minority-friendly policies for ethnic Russians despite mandates from the European Union. These initiatives faced majority opposition, and politicians sought to maintain the status quo and their positions. As Jennie L. Schulze reveals, despite the credit given to the democratizing influence of European institutions, they have rarely produced significant policy changes alone, and then only when domestic constraints were low. Whenever domestic opposition was high, Russian frames were crucial for the passage of reforms. In these cases, Russia’s activism on behalf of Russian speakers reinforced European frames, providing powerful justifications for reform. Schulze’s attention to both the strategic framing and counter framing of external actors explains the controversies, delays, and suboptimal outcomes surrounding the passage of “conditional” amendments in both cases, as well as the local political climate postaccession. Strategic Frames offers a significant reference on recent developments in two former Soviet states and the rapidly evolving spheres of political influence in the postindependence era that will serve students, scholars, and policymakers alike.

The political shocks of the 2014 Ukrainian crisis have been felt in many former Soviet countries, not least Latvia, where over 35 per cent of the population are native Russian speakers. At a time when analysts and commentators are unsure about Russia's future plans to intervene on behalf of their 'compatriots', this study provides a detailed political and cultural analysis of Russian-speaking identity in Latvia. By using Russian-speakers in Latvia as a specific case study, this volume also offers a fresh methodological approach to the study of discourses and discursive strategies. It outlines a coherent methodology to study the evolution of discourses over time, rather than a single de-contextualised and static time period. Drawing on media analysis, elite interviews, focus groups and survey data, this volume situates the identity strategies of Russian speakers within the transformations of the post-Soviet era. By assessing political, cultural and economic links with their home state (Latvia) and their potential kin-state (Russia), it offers important insights into the complex identity positions of Latvia's Russian speakers, and how these positions have evolved in Latvia since the late Soviet period. At a historical moment when many will question the loyalty of Russian speakers to their various 'host states', this book provides a timely, scholarly account of ethnic politics in Latvia. It also offers a methodological framework that allows for the mapping of trends in discursive strategies, exploring how they evolve through time.

What do we know about Latvia and the Latvians? A Baltic (not Balkan) nation that emerged from fifty years under the Soviet Union - interrupted by a brief but brutal Nazi-German occupation and a devastating war - now a member of the European Union and NATO. Yes, but what else? Relentless accusations keep appearing, especially in Russian media, often repeated in the West: "Latvian soldiers single-handedly saved Lenin's revolution in 1917", "Latvians killed Tsar Nikolai II and the Royal family", "Latvia was a thoroughly anti-Semitic country and Latvians started killing Jews even before the Germans arrived in 1941", "Nazi revival is rampant in today's Latvia", "The Russian minority is persecuted in Latvia. . ." True, false or in-between? The Finnish journalist and author Jukka Rislakki examines charges like these and provides an outline of Latvia's recent history while attempting to separate documented historical fact from misinformation and deliberate disinformation. His analysis helps to explain why the Baltic States (population 7 million) consistently top the enemy lists in public opinion polls of Russia (143 million). His knowledge of the Baltic languages allows him to make use of local sources and up-to-date historical research. He is a former Baltic States correspondent for Finland's largest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and the author of several books on Finnish and Latvian history. As a neutral, experienced and often critical observer, Rislakki is uniquely qualified for the task of separating truth from fiction.

Perfect Imbalance seeks to answer one of the most important outstanding questions in twenty-first century politics: how close are Putin's Russia and Xi's China?Written by a scholar fluent in both Chinese and Russian, this book examines the current China-Russia partnership from several perspectives. First, what Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and their respective foreign policy establishments publicly say about the relationship between the countries. Second, how the two establishments frame their tangible cooperation on matters such as security, the Arctic, space, and international relations with other Eurasian countries. Finally, the book examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon Sino-Russian relations. Putin and Xi's stories, where possible, are cross-checked with what is really happening.Perfect Imbalance argues that although Russia has not pivoted towards China, and although there is no official Sino-Russian alliance is in sight, the relationship will continue to grow and expand in search for a perfect imbalance.

Latvia stands out as the East European country hardest hit by the global financial crisis; it lost approximately 25 percent of its GDP between 2008 and 2010. It was also the most overheated economy before the crisis. But in the second half of 2010, Latvia returned to economic growth. How did this happen so quickly? Current Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who shepherded Latvia through the crisis, and renowned author Anders slund discuss why the Latvian economy became so overheated; why an IMF and European Union stabilization program was needed; what the Latvian government did to resolve the financial crisis and why it made these choices; and what the outcome has been. This book offers a rare insider's look at how a national government responded to a global financial crisis, made tough choices, and led the country back to economic growth.

This open access volume examines experiences of contemporary Latvian migrants, thereby focusing on reasons for emigration, processes of integration in their host countries, and – in the case of return migration - re-integration in their home country. In the context of European migration, the book describes the case of Latvia, which is interesting due to the multiple waves of excessive emigration, continuously high migration potential among European Union member states, and diverse migrant characteristics. It provides a fascinating insight into the social and psychological aspects linked to migration in a comparative context. The data in this volume is rich in providing individual level perspectives of contemporary Latvian migrants by addressing issues such as emigrants’ economic, social and cultural inclusion in the host country, ties with the home country and culture, interaction with public authorities both in the host and home country, political views, and perspectives on the permanent settlement in migration or return. Through topics such as assimilation of children, relationships between emigrants representing different emigration waves, the complex identities and attachments of minority emigrants, and the role of culture and media in identity formation and presentation, this book addresses topics that any contemporary emigrant community is faced with.