This article describes the energy challenges of the Baltic region energy and the role of the EU in the energy domain. It discusses energy dependencies and how the energy is currently delivered to the Baltic region and reviews the national situations concerning oil, natural gas and electricity supplies. One must also recognize the role of Russia, which is seen as a highly dominating actor in energy issues. The article will introduce some alternative ideas towards solving the energy question. There is room for greater bilateral cooperation in several areas. For example, Estonia has close historical relations with Finland, and Poland is a natural partner for Lithuania in energy matters. This article presents the idea of building a regional infrastructure to integrate the EU energy market with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania both via Finland and Poland. One must also address the need to develop land lines of communication, namely Via Baltica and Rail Baltica. The article will provide some conclusions about the energy challenges and options in the Baltic region. The individual energy needs of every country need to be recognized, but there is also a need for wider neighbourhood and trans-regional cooperation.

The global warming issue has been an ongoing topic for decades and is very controversial. Different participants regarded climate changes as normal phenomena that have been present throughout history. Nevertheless, a majority of scientists seem to think that the global warming, or the “greenhouse effect“, is in fact still taking place and the world’s average temperature is rising alarmingly. This process could have several outcomes. One of them could be the opening of the so called North-Western route through the Arctic from Northern Europe to the Pacific. Another result could be emerging opportunities to explore the whole area and its continental shelf followed by exploitation of vast natural resources. Is it the opening of a new frontiers or the start of a new “Great Game” among nations; this time in the Arctic area?

Artikkelissa käsitellään logistiikkakeskusten merkitystä Kiinan alueellisessa taloudellisessa kehityksessä. Uusia mahdollisuuksia Kiinassa syntyy pääasiassa maan länsi- ja keskiosassa. Huippupolitikot pyrkivät tukemaan mahdollisimman tasapainoista kehitystä. Tämän tuloksena elinkeinoelämän yritykset ympäri maailmaa sijoittavat maahan. Toiminta synnyttää moderneja logistiikkakeskuksia tukemaan liiketoimintaa ja alueellista kehitystä erityisesti iltärannikolla, mutta myös maan keskiosissa sekä Tiibetin Autonomisella alueella.

Energialla on strategisia vaikutuksia maailman politiikkaan. Perinteiset öljyntuottajavaltiot ovat pitkään tuotannollaan ohjailleet hintapolitiikkaa sekä monessa tapauksessa rakentaneet taloutensa oman energiatuotannon ja sen viennin varaan. Tänä päivänä on uusien energialähteiden, erityisesti liuskeöljyn ja -kaasun ilmaantuminen muuttamassa asetelmaa. Toiveita on herättänyt myös arktisen alueen ilmastokehitys
ja sen mahdollistama luonnonvarojen hyödyntäminen.
Erityisesti Venäjä tuntuu panostavan tähän pohjoiseen ulottuvuuteen. Tässä kirjoituksessa keskitytään lähinnä kaasuun ja öljyyn ainoastaan sivuten muita energialähteitä.

The enduring global warming has opened new views of exploitation of the Arctic. The possibility to open new ship routes, huge resource reserves, and fishery are of interest of many entities, however experts’ opinions still differs. Although the cooperation between the nations has been peaceful, the military presence in the area is increasing and it remains to be seen how the recent Ukrainian crisis will affect the development in the area.
As for now, no major conflicts in this area are likely and cooperation is supported by international treaties (e.g. UNCLOS) and organizations (e.g. the Arctic Council). There are several international disputes and also perils related to the Russian Federation, being major player there. Russia builds multidimensional capabilities, including military and economy ones, to support national interests. The Western sanctions are negatively influencing exploration of natural resources making Moscow nervous and it country must be treated very seriously to avoid creating new “Cold war” type icy relations and confrontation.

The book consists of a collection of opinions by authors from different countries and diverse research backgrounds, building on the first volume of this project with a multi-faceted review of the development of unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) in military use. In addition to reconsidering ethical and legal aspects of the use of UGVs, the book takes a closer view on how different nations have developed and are progressing with their UGV capabilities.

2017. gads kļuva par kārtējo vēsturisko gadu Latvijas aizsardzībā kopš 2014. gada. Togad līdz ar Krievijas izvērsto agresiju Ukrainā pirmo reizi vēsturē Latvijā tika izvietoti nelieli un rotējoši, tomēr pastāvīgi ASV militārie spēki. Sekojot ilgstošām diskusijām un sagatavošanās procesam, 2017. gada jūnijā Latvijā tika o ciāli atklāta Kanādas vadītā daudznacionālā kaujas grupa NATO paplašinātās klātbūtnes (EFP) ietvaros. Līdz ar to Latvija pēc 13 gadu dalības NATO beidzot kļuva par alianses dalībvalsti ne vien “uz papīra”, bet arī praksē.

In terms of Latvia’s defence, 2017 was another historical year since 2014 when along with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, for the  rst time in history a small and rotating though permanent US military presence was established in Latvia. Following lengthy discussions and preparations, in June 2017 the Canadian-led Multinational Ba legroup in the framework of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) was o cially inaugurated in Latvia.  us, a er 13 years of NATO membership, Latvia  nally became a member of the Alliance not only ‘on paper’, but also in practice.