The Other Within: The Role of the Russian Speaking Minority in Relations Between the Baltic States and Russia

Abstract

The research problem of the thesis is the role of the Russian speaking population as the internal other in the relations between the Baltic States and Russia through comparison of all the three situations. The theoretical foundation of the research is the "self -other" dichotomy considered on the fundamental, theoretical and empirical levels that are presented by the positions of Carl Schmitt, Benedict Anderson and Iver Neumann. The analysis of the dichotomy provides the basis for the research of the position of the Russian speaking population as the internal other in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In the thesis the rhetorical methodology is applied to the articles of the national newspapers of the Baltic States published in large editions since May, 2004 in order to outline the rhetorical techniques, interpret them and thus to analyze the perception of the Russian speaking population and Russia in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The role of the factor of the Russian speaking minority in the relations between the Baltic States and Russia is defined through the affirmation of the correlation between the situation over the Russian speaking population and the foreign policy of the country in relation to Russia in the context of the "self - other" dichotomy.

The comparison of the situations over the position of the Russian speaking population and the foreign policy in relation to Russia in the Baltic States enables to state that the Lithuanian case is atypical. The research demonstrates that the negative perception of both objects dominates in Latvia and Estonia while it is not typical of Lithuania. The analysis of the ?self ? other? dichotomy and the results of the rhetorical analysis of the articles of the newspapers of the Baltic States lead to the conclusion that in Lithuania the positive perception of the Russian speaking minority since it is not the internal other and the absence of the necessity to protect the self corresponds to the domination of the positive presentation of Russia and the positive trends in the foreign policy in relation to it in contrast to Latvia and Estonia. Consequently, the minority plays a particular role in the relations between the Baltic States and Russia.

Inquiry into the case of the Baltic States enables to conclude that the issue of identity influences the foreign policy of a country in a variety of ways.