Estonia has — quite vindictively — done an extremely poor job integrating the older generations of its large Russian-speaking population, which has unfortunately left them closely oriented toward Russia.
For example, Estonia could have provided extensive homegrown Russian-language television programming and instead limited it to 15 minutes per day, which left Russian state television across the border to fill the void, enthusiastically, with anti-Estonian propaganda. Younger Russian Estonians, born shortly before or some time after the Soviet breakup, are somewhat better integrated but only by virtue of cultural assimilation out of necessity, which fosters its own kind of resentments.
These failures, not small military strengths, is what has left the Baltic States vulnerable to Russian intimidation and threats.
Opinion: Baltic Russians could be the next pawns in new cold war http://t.co/HPxu1RxlNa pic.twitter.com/2WqERPxZUm
— Al Jazeera America (@ajam) April 11, 2015
In related news (pictured above and below), about two weeks ago, the United States rolled a large military convoy with great deliberation 1,100 miles across Poland and 5 other countries, in a show of support to NATO members or a show of force against Russia. NYT:
By the time it is finished, Operation Dragoon Ride, which began a week ago in the Baltics and is due to conclude later this week, will be the longest such movement the United States Army has made across Europe since Gen. George S. Patton diverted his Third Army to relieve Bastogne, Belgium, in 1944.
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Operation Dragoon Ride, Eastern/Central Europe, Day 4. (Credit: US Army)
Also from Arsenal For Democracy on this topic
“Lithuania reactivates interwar paramilitary”
“Poland readies itself to go deep, if necessary”
