Don’t Cut U.S. Support for the Baltic States

One of the reasons that the West prevailed in the Cold War was the willingness of, above all, the U.S., to play the long game. One small example of that, although it was not so small to the people who lived there, was the American refusal to accept the legality of the Soviet annexation of the three Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia throughout nearly half a century of Moscow rule. So far as the U.S. and a number of other Western countries were concerned, the interwar independence of the Baltic trio lived on, at least legally. As a practical matter, this spared many Baltic refugees from being handed over to the Soviets at the end of the Second World War, and, when these nations eventually regained their freedom, it helped smooth their return to the West.

Given the chance, the Kremlin would either reoccupy Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia or, at the very least, bring them back under its thumb, reducing their independence to a sham. Had they not joined NATO in 2004, this could well have already happened by now. Deterrence works, it keeps the peace and, yes, it is cost-effective.

About the Author

Andrew Stuttaford

Andrew Stuttaford is the editor of National Review's Capital Matters.

Featured Tags

One of the reasons that the West prevailed in the Cold War was the willingness of, above all, the U.S., to play the long game. One small example of that, although it was not so small to the people who lived there, was the American refusal to accept the legality of the Soviet annexation of the three Baltic states, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia throughout nearly half a century of Moscow rule. So far as the U.S. and a number of other Western countries were concerned, the interwar independence of the Baltic trio lived on, at least legally. As a practical matter, this spared many Baltic refugees from being handed over to the Soviets at the end of the Second World War, and, when these nations eventually regained their freedom, it helped smooth their return to the West.

Given the chance, the Kremlin would either reoccupy Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia or, at the very least, bring them back under its thumb, reducing their independence to a sham. Had they not joined NATO in 2004, this could well have already happened by now. Deterrence works, it keeps the peace and, yes, it is cost-effective.