Politics of Uncertainty: The United States, the Baltic Question, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union (OXFORD STUDIES IN INTL HISTORY SERIES)

In March 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet Republic to declare its independence.Within weeks, the two other Baltic states, Estonia and Latvia, announced the beginning of a transition period toward full sovereignty.The Soviet Union, which considered the Baltic declarations illegal, harshly condemned them and imposed an economic blockade against Lithuania.Fearing an outbreak of violence in the region, the United States tried to de-escalate the crisis, pressuring all sides to engage in dialogue.Thirty years after the Soviet collapse Politics of Uncertainty investigates the interplay between international and domestic dynamics in the Soviet disintegration process.Based on extensive multilingual archival research, this book recovers the voices of local actors in Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius in its examination of the triangular relations between Washington, Moscow, and Baltic independence movements.Occupied and annexed by the USSR in 1940, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were the first So