Securitization and desecuritization of Russia in the national security and defence concepts of Latvia (1995-2020)

Abstract

This article revisits and applies the securitization theory in assessing securitization and desecuritization of Russia in the national security and state defence concepts of Latvia. The analysis covers the editions of concepts from 1995 up to the date. With the benefit of the quantitative and qualitative content analyses, all mentions of Russia in those fourteen documents are classified as either securitizing, desecuritizing or nonsecuritizing. Further, they are analysed in the wider picture of national security. It is concluded that most of Latvia’s national security and state defence documents have reflected the perception of the existent security situation, and they have been limited in their pre-emptive and future-proof nature, at least regarding Russia. In most of the editions of the documents prior to the 2014 Ukraine crisis, Russia has been essentially undersecuritized as compared to the then existing potential of risks and threats. Meanwhile, the final editions from 2015 and on hint that Russia might be oversecuritized – not least compared to the earlier documents, but also at the expense of securitizing other objective threats.