| Abstract [eng] |
The master thesis is titled „Military doctrines of small NATO member states: between standardization and individuality. The case of the Baltic states”. The thesis examines the relationship between the content of military doctrines of the Baltic States – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the significance of this relationship to state-alliance relations and NATO context. The aim of this study is to determine, whether these small states choose to adapt their military doctrines and their content to NATO standard or to balance against the alliance by maintaining authentic narrative of the documents. The first goal of this study is to present the theoretical basis, which consists of Alliance shelter theory and theoretical separation of military doctrines and to form a research model based on this dual framework. The Alliance shelter theory is part of greater academic literature field of Alliance theory and theoretical separation of military doctrines is based on Harald Hoiback’s theoretical interpretations. The second goal is to analyse NATO military doctrines and determine what standards are set for all the member states’ military documents. The third goal is to analyse Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian military doctrines and determine their relationship with the NATO standard of military doctrines and their content. The final goal is to summarize the results of the research and present broader conclusions to state-alliance relations and whole alliance context. The main thesis of this research is that the military doctrines of small states such as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia reflect their authentic narrative and do not follow the standards, established by NATO Alliance, as the contribution of these small states does not make a difference to the whole Alliance performance. The research revealed that only Latvia largely balances against the NATO standard and quite a few similarities were found only in authority dimension, while Lithuania and Estonia closely adjust their position to NATO standard in theoretical and authoritative sections, but maintains a level of authenticity in cultural part, hence the thesis was partly defended. The exceptional Latvian position is related to unwritten military doctrine case while most of its documents are of political nature. Hence, small military alliance member states strive for military doctrine that slightly differs from the alliance's standardized approach to war. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are not only small but also relatively recently re-established countries, hence they do not have significant resources to develop peculiar doctrines. Therefore, adjusting to the standards of the alliance may simply be a pragmatic choice that maximizes the benefits of the small state within the alliance. However, the calculations for the Baltic States end at a cultural dimension, where patriotism is promoted and multinational NATO identity is not yet prioritized. Divergent positions on this issue echo the debate on standardization in other areas, which shows that standardization is important for developing and sustaining the NATO power in the long term, but some members have more interest in it than others. It does not necessarily threaten the unity or generated power of the Alliance, but it certainly poses some obstacles to future projects and their implementation. Theoretical barriers can also affect the practical scope of standardization – although the contribution of small states to NATO is marginal, in some cases the marginality can have a significant and decisive impact on joint operations. Therefore, if there is no difference to small states to choose between standardized and authentic content, a compromise can always be chosen to ensure a harmonized baggage of warfare knowledge and rules on limiting the armed forces, while maintaining some individuality to fight for not only national, but also multinational historical memory of the Allies. |
