The book examines the security puzzles posed by the remaining legacies of dominance and conflict in the Baltic Sea region as governments seek to integrate the three Baltic sates in a more stable system of cooperative security.

This study presents the outcome of a Track II dialogue among civil society leaders, security experts, academics, and government representatives from across the Baltic States, Poland, and the United States who came together to discuss the shared threats and challenges facing NATO’s eastern flank in light of Russia’s aggressive behavior toward its neighbors. The objective of the study was to enhance scholarship on the challenges stemming from the Ukraine crisis and to inform public discussions on the evolving nature and future of security and defense relations among the United States, the Baltic States, and Poland.

The ongoing efforts to forge co-operative links in the Nordic and Baltic regions have not as yet proceeded to the point where memories of recent confrontation and repression have been dissipated. These continue to hinder efforts to forge a stable and peaceful regional security environment. This report concludes that all parties must be persuaded to engage in a positive and co-operative dialogue, and the behaviour of the nation-states and multilateral organizations which are active in the region is encouraging.

Within the European area, the Baltic Sea still is the region where multiple security organizations seek influence to enhance stability and peace. The EU plans to enlarge into this region and the Baltic States are candidates for NATO enlargement. On the other hand, the Russian Federation sees the region as 'near abroad' and has declared the support of its minorities living there to be of vital interest. Therefore, this area is crucial for future relations between the former antagonists U.S. and the Russian Federation. The different security systems around the Baltic Sea guarantee stability and peace. Although there are still overlapping and waste of efforts, the coordination between the supporting nations and the receiving nations as well as the different organizations has increased. These initiatives try to help the Baltic States to restructure themselves. However, sometimes they slow down progress, because the organizational overhead is too big for the Baltic States. After they gained independence, a surge of nationalism went through them and they missed opportunities for better cooperation. Today the Baltic States are willing to coordinate their efforts, as several military cooperation projects tinder the Baltic Security Assistance Group show.

This book focuses on four former Soviet sub-regions - the Baltic Sea region, the Slavic republics, the Black Sea region, and Central Asia - to explore the degree to which "democratic security" has been established.