Prospects for New Zealand in the Baltic States: theoretical, structural and operational dimensions of cooperation

Abstract

This paper is driven by a desire to improve the status quo in the area of New Zealand’s political, business and person-to-person relations with the post-Soviet Baltic Republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which by now represent an integral part of the European Union. The example of Estonia will be briefly tested as a possible ‘gateway’ for New Zealand trying to undertake its most recent endeavours towards discovering the Baltic region. The article’s response variable is outlined as ‘New Zealand’s multi-dimensional interactions with the post-Soviet Baltic Republics, particularly with the Republic of Estonia’. There will be an attempt to scrutinise the studied phenomenon from several angles (‘theoretical’, ‘operational’ and ‘structural’) and by answering the following research question: is it necessary for New Zealand to promote its image, business interests and scientific achievements in the Baltic region? This paper is among the first attempts to address a deficit of scholarship studying New Zealand’s interactions with the post-Soviet Baltic region. Its findings could be used by policy makers in the field of international relations in both New Zealand and the Baltics.