HBC Bergmane 2023 09 13 (215 Kb)

Bergmane’s research investigates the interplay between international and domestic dynamics in the Soviet disintegration process. Based on extensive multilingual archival research, she recovers the voices of local actors in Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius in her examination of the triangular relations between Washington, Moscow, and Baltic independence movements. By focusing on the relations between those at the top of global power hierarchies and those situated at their margins, Una Bergmane underscores how the Soviet collapse was driven much more by uncertainty, domestic pressures, and last-minute decisions than by long-term strategy – while warning about the tenuous geopolitical positions of these three states that joined NATO and the European Union after breaking out of the Soviet empire.