Toward cooperative security? International integration and the construction of security in Estonia

Millennium: Journal of International Studies

Volumn 31, Issue 2, 2002, Pages 297-317

  Kuus, Merje ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33749043308     PISSN: 03058298     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/03058298020310020401     Document Type: Article

References (82)

1. Applicant Countries Eurobarometer 2001 [http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/eceb/aceb20011.htm] (15 April 2002).
2. For analyses of these initiatives, see Edward Rhodes, 'Rethinking the Nature of Security: The US Northern Europe Initiative', COPRI Working Paper, no. 9/2002(Copenhagen: Copenhagen Peace Research Institute, COPRI, 2002) [http://www.copri.dk/publications.workingpapers.htm] (8 August 2002)
3. and Dmitri Trenin and Peter van Ham, eds., Russia and the United States in the Northern European Security (Helsinki: Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 2000). The materials published by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs are a part of the Northern Dimension Programme and therefore provide the best examples of how security is conceived in this programme. Much of the literature on the Northern Dimension tends to be published in Finland and is relatively inaccessible elsewhere.
4. See David Campbell, Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity, 2d ed. (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1998)
5. and Jutta Weldes, Mark Laffey, Hugh Gusterson and Raymond Duvall, eds., Cultures of Insecurity: States, Communities and the Production of Danger (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1999).
6. Pertti Joenniemi and Marko Lehti, 'On the Encounter Between the Nordic and the Northern: Tom Apart but Meeting Again', COPRI Working Paper, no. 36/2001 (Copenhagen: COPRI, 2001) [http://www.copri.dk/publications/workingpapers/htm] (8 August 2002).
7. Christopher S. Browning, 'The Region-Building Approach Revisited: The Continued Othering of Russia in Discourses of Region-Building in the European North', COPRI Working Paper, no. 6/2001 (Copenhagen: COPRI, 2001) [http://www.copri.dk/publications/workingpapers.htm] (8 August 2002).
8. For an optimistic view, see Trenin and Van Ham, Russia and the United States in the Northern European Security.
9. For a critical view, see Browning, "The Region-Building Approach Revisited'.
10. See Ole Wæver, 'Securitization and Desecuritization', in OH Security, ed. Ronnie D. Lipschutz (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), 46-86
11. and Keith Krause and Michael C. Williams, eds., Critical Security Studies: Concepts and Cases (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1997).
12. The studies that examine the social construction and political functions of security have been labeled constructivism post-structuralist and postmodernist. A comparative discussion of these theoretical frameworks is beyond the scope of this article, but see Campbell, Writing Security, 207-27.
13. None of the major edited volumes on security discourses analyse constructions of threat in Eastern Europe. See Morten Kelstrup and Michael C. Williams, eds., International Relations Theory and the Politics of European Integration: Power, Security and Community (London: Routledge, 2000);
14. Krause and Williams, Critical Security Studies; Ronnie D. Lipschutz, ed., On Security;
15. and Weldes et al., Cultures of Insecurity.
16. See Walter C. Clemens, Jr., The Baltic Transformed: Complexity Theory and European Security (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2001);
17. Mare Haab, 'Estonia', in Bordering Russia: Theory and Prospects for Europe's Baltic Rim, ed. Hans Mouritzen (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999), 109-29;
18. Graeme P. Herd and Joan Lofgren, 'Societal Security, the Baltic States and EU Integration', Cooperation and Conflict 36, no. 3 (2001): 273-96;
19. and Peeter Vares, 'Estonia and Russia: Inter-ethnic Relations and Regional Security', in Stability and Security in the Baltic Sea Region: Russian, Nordic and European Aspects, ed. Olav Knudsen (London: Frank Cass, 1999), 155-64.
20. For examples, see Sven Arnswald, ed., EU Enlargement and the Baltic States: Tl:e Incremental Making of New Members (Bonn and Helsinki: Institut für Europäische Politik and Finnish Institute of International Affairs, 2000);
21. Olav Knudsen, ed., Stability and Security in the Baltic Sea Region: Russian, Nordic and European Aspects (London: Frank Cass, 1999);
22. and Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America and Post-Communist Europe (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996).
23. These other sites are particularly significant in Estonia where, partly due to its small population, academics are involved as experts in policy-making, and all segments of the elites occasionally publish their positions in newspapers. For the role of popular media in the construction of geopolitics, see Joanne Sharp, 'Hegemony, Popular Culture and Geopolitics: The Reader's Digest and the Construction of Danger', Political Geography 15, no. 6/7 (1996): 557-70.
24. Significantly, the literature that analyses the so-called adoption of Western norms in the applicant states tends not to clarify what these norms are, even though these norms are subjected to scrutiny in the Western European context. The notion of Western norms functions as a floating signifier that can mean many things, depending on the context of the argument. Likewise, in Estonia the so-called Western norms are often invoked but rarely explained. For a critique, see Michael Burawoy and Katherine Verdery, eds., Uncertain Transition: Ethnographies of Change in the Postsocialist World (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1999).
25. Gregory Feldman, 'Constructing the Non-Estonian: The Policies and Politics of Ethnic and European Integration in Estonia', The Anthropology of East Europe Review 18, no. 2 (2000): 117-27.
26. Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security Concept of the Republic of Estonia (Tallinn: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2001) [http://www.vm.ee/eng/policy/Security.htm] (17 April 2001).
27. Approximately 230,000 non-Estonian residents of Estonia, accounting for 16 percent of Estonia's population, are stateless, that is, not citizens of any country. See Raivo Vetik, Democratic Multiculturalism: A New Model of National Integration (Marienhamn, Finland: The Aland Peace Research Institute, 2001), 5.
28. Antti Oolo, 'Venemaa-hirm tuleneb ajaloost', Eesti Päevaleht, 20 March 2000, 6.
29. Merje Feldman, 'European Integration and the Discourse of National Identity in Estonia', National Identities 3, no. 1 (2001): 5-21.
30. Janine Wedel, Collision and Collusion: the Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998).
31. All translations from Estonian were made by the author unless English-language versions of the material were available (in case of official speeches, for example).
32. See A. Betricau, ed., Eesti Identiteet ja Iseseisvus (Tallirun: Avita, 2001);
33. Ahto Oja, ed., Eesti 21. sajandil: arengustrateegind, visioonid, valikud (Tallinn: Estonian Academy of Sciences Press, 2000);
34. and Edgar Savisaar, Usun Eestisse (Tallinn: TEA Kirjastus, 1999).
35. 'Lennart Meri: Valik on Euroopa ja Venemaa vahel' (Eesti Päevaleht interview with Lennart Meri), Eesti Päevaleht, 6 March 1999 [http://www.president.ee/est/e-intervjuud.html?INTERVIEW_ID=36] (14 October 1999).
36. Toomas Mattson, 'Andres Tarand: Eesti tee viib Venesse või Euroopasse', Postimees, 28 March 2001, 6.
37. Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guidelines of the National Defence Policy of Estonia (Tallinn: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1996) [http://www.vm.ee/eng/nato/def.policy.html] (14 March 2001).
38. Toomas Hendrik lives, quoted in Piret Pernik, Eesti identiteet välispoliitilises diskursuses 1990-1999, Bakalaureusetöö (Tallinn: Eesti Humanitaarinstituut, 2000), 78.
39. Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security Concept, 8.
40. Toomas Hendrik lives, Estonia, Sweden, and the Post-Post-Cold War Era, remarks by Toomas Hendrik lives, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, at the Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm, 9 January 1997 (Tallinn: Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1997), 6 [http://www.vm.ee/eng/pressreleases/speeches/1997/970109ilv.htm] (4 May 1999).
41. This cultural framing of security corresponds to the re-conceptualisation of NATO in cultural and civilisational terms. See Michael C. Williams and Iver B. Neumann, 'From Alliance to Security Community: NATO, Russia, and the Power of Identity', Millennium: Journal of International Studies 29, no. 2 (2000): 357-87.
42. Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, State Programme 'Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007' (Tallinn: Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, 2000) [http://www.riik.ee/saks/ikomisjon.htm] (22 April 2001).
43. Even though claims about Estonia's European culture and identity have long been prominent in Estonian political debates, the arguments that link international integration and Estonian national security have been increasingly relying on the notion of culture, rather than military threats, since the mid 1990s.
44. Marju Lauristin, Peeter Vihalemm, Karl-Edgar Rosengren, and Lars Weibull; eds., Return to the Western World: Cultural and Political Perspectives on the Estonian Post-Communist Transition (Tartu, Estonia: Tartu University Press, 1997).
45. Toomas Hendrik lives, Address to Riigikogu, 5 December 1996 (Tallinn: Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1996) [http://www.vm.ee/eng/pressreleases/speeches/1996/9612min.html] (2 June 1999).
46. See Riigikogu toimetatud Stenogramm, 18 January, 25 January and 6 March 2001 (Tallinn: Riigikogu, 2001) all available at [http://www.riigikogu.ee/ems/index.htm].
47. Eesti Päevaleht, one of Estonia's two principal dailies, devoted two full pages to Hungtington's work on civilisations. Eesti Päevaleht, 27 November 1999, 17-18.
48. See Lauristin et al., Return to the Western World.
49. Mart Laar, L'engagement Europeen de l'Estonie, lecture by Mr. Mart Laar, Prime Minister of Estonia, at the French Institute of International Affairs in Paris, 10 April 2000 (Tallinn: Office of the Prime Minister, 2000) [http://www.vm.ee/eng/pressreleases/speeches/2000/MLaar.htm] (14 April 2001).
50. Lennart Meri, President Lennnrt Mere kõne Estonia kontserdisaalis, 24 February 1993 (Tallinn: Office of the President, 1993).
51. See Mati Heidmets, ed., Vene küsimus ja Eesti valiknd (Tallinn: Tallinn Pedagogical University, 1998)
52. and Pemik, Eesti identiteet välispoliitilises diskursuses 1990-1999.
53. Samuel P. Huntington, 'The Clash of Civilizations?', Foreign Affairs 72, no. 3 (1993): 25
54. quoted in Toomas Hendrik lives, 'Murrangujoonel: Samuel Huntington tsivilisatsioonide kokkupõrgetest' in Samuel P. Huntington, Tsivilisatsioonide kokkupõrge (Tallinn: OU Fontese Kirjastus, 1999), 21.
55. A prominent example is Oja, Eesti 21. sajandil.
56. Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, State Programme 'Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007', 17.
57. Tartu University Market Research Team, Estonia's Experiment: The Possibilities to Integrate Non-Citizens into the Estonian Society (Tallinn: Open Estonia Foundation, 1997), ch. 7, p. 3.
58. Comment by Mart Nutt in 'Pragmaatiline ja rahvuslik lähenemine venekeelse elanikkonna küsimusele Eestis' in Betricau, Eesti Identiteet ja Iseseisvits, 272. The relationship between these two categories is usually not specified in Estonia, and this ambiguity is crucial for the functioning of both concepts. This paper analyses the ways in which concepts such as nation and state are used in Estonia; the ambiguity as to what the state and the nation are or how they are related is deliberate from my part to convey the essential vagueness of Estonian political debates.
59. Notwithstanding occasional utterances that are less-than-enthusiastic about NATO accession, no politician or academic of national prominence has consistently articulated NATO-sceptic positions in the national media.
60. Estonia's Constitution states that it is the guarantor of the preservation of the Estonian nation and culture. Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, Preamble (Tallinn: Estonian Translation and Legislative Support Centre, 1996) [http://www.president.ee/eng/ametitegevus] (28 June 2002).
61. OSCE recommended more than 30 amendments to Estonia's legislation and Estonia adopted all of those. One MP commented that due to the intense foreign monitoring of law-making, the Parliament's Constitutional Affairs committee routinely faxed proposed changes to citizenship law to the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities before putting these changes to the parliamentary discussion. See Merje Kuus, 'Sovereignty for Security? The Discourse of Sovereignty in Estonia', Political Geography 21, no. 3 (2002): 393-412.
62. With regard to the EU, 65 percent of ethnic non-Estonians but only 45 percent of ethnic Estonians supported membership in June 2000. Eesti Päevaleht, 'Euroliitu usuvad noored ja muulased', 27 June 2000, 2. Regarding NATO, 65 percent of ethnic Estonians but only 27 percent of non-Estonians supported membership in March 2002. ES Turu-Uuringute AS, Avalik arvamus ja riigikaitse: kokkuvõte uuringust (Tallinn: Ministry of Defense, 2002) [http://www.mod.gov.ee/static/news/files/NATOmärts2002.pdf] (27 June 2002). These numbers are consistent with earlier polls.
63. Andres Kasekamp, 'Euroopa ühine kaitsepoliitika ja meie', Postimees, 15 May 2001, 4.
64. Mart Nutt, 'Kui Läti murdub, asutakse Eesti kallale', Eesti Päevaleht, 20 June 1996, 12.
65. Kai Kalamees, 'Kõrge euroametnik sarjas Eesti keeleseadust', Eesti Päevaleht, 8 July 1999, 2. Kalamees is quoting Vardo Rumessen.
66. Harri Tiido, 'Kosovo õppetunnid maailma ja Eesti jacks', Eesti Päevaleht, 12 June 1999, 12.
67. Kasekamp, 'Euroopa ühine kaitsepoliitika ja meie'.
68. Jüri Luik, 'Ohtlik enesepettus', Postimees, 15 May 2001, 13.
69. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, The Foreign Minister's presentation at a discussion of Eurointegration matters in the Riigikogu on 18 January 2001 (Tallinn: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2001) [http://www.vm.ee/eng/pressreleases/speeches/2001/0118euro.eng.htm] (14 March 2001).
70. Marko Mihkelson, 'Naabri sundideed, meie voimalused', Postimees, 13 October 2000, 14.
71. Mart Helme, Tõhjamõõde ja ajalooline inerts', Eesti Päevaleht, 4 April 2001, 12.
72. Aap Neljas, 'Eesti julgeolekuriskide analüüs Eesti Julgeolekupoliitika Aluste Kontseptsioonis' (paper presented at the First Estonian Social Science Conference, Tallinn, 24-26 November 2000).
73. The concept was criticised in the parliamentary committee for allegedly vague evaluation of risks. See Parlamendi toimetatud Stenogramm, 18 January 2001.
74. Toomas Hendrik lives, 'Eesti poliitika euroopastumine', Luup, 17 March 1997 [http://www.postimees.ee/luup/97/06/sise2.htm] (2 February 2001). lives does not clarify what he means by 'un-European behaviour', but he obviously assumes that the reader knows what European or un-European behaviour is. Again, the ambiguity and fluidity of categories such as 'un-European behaviour' are instrumental to Estonian security discourse.
75. Gregory Feldman, 'Constructing the Non-Estonian'.
76. Sirje Endre and Mart Laar, 'Valitsus kõigutab rahvusriigi alustalasid', Eesti Päevaleht, 12 December 1997, 11. Laar was Estonia's Prime Minister in 1992-1994 and 1999-2002.
77. For an analysis drawing from foreign policy rhetoric, see Pertti Joenniemi and Thomas Christiansen, 'Politics at the Edge: On the Restructuring of Borders in the North of Europe', in Curtains of Iron and Gold: Reconstructing Borders and Scales of Interaction, eds. Heikki Eskelinen, Ilkka Liikanen and Jukka Oksa (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1999): 89-117. For an analysis drawing on domestic policy rhetoric, see Feldman, 'European Integration and the Discourse of National Identity in Estonia'.
78. Hugh Gusterson, 'Missing the End of the Cold War in International Security', in Weldes, et al., Cultures of Insecurity, 327.
79. For a discussion of this point in the context of Western Europe, see Roxanne Lynn Doty, 'Racism, Desire, and the Politics of Immigration', Millennium: Journal of International Studies 28, no. 3 (1999), 589.
80. R. B. J. Walker, "The Subject of Security', in Krause and Williams, Critical Security Studies, 63.
81. Similar balancing acts between Western recommendations and local public opinion have been noted in the other Baltic States. See Grazina Miniotaite, "The Baltic States: In Search of Security and Identity', COPRI Working Paper, no. 14/2001 (Copenhagen: COPRI, 2001)
82. and Inga Pavlovaite, 'Paradise Regained: The Conceptualizations of Europe in the Lithuanian Debate', COPRI Working Paper, no. 24/2000 (Copenhagen: COPRI, 2000) both available at [http://www.copri.dk/publications/vorkingpapers.htm] (8 August 2002).