The Fate of Intermarium as an Alternate Regional Framework after Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Description

Small states have tended to seek collective security arrangements, especially in times and regions where larger powers have sought to exercise influence. During the interwar period, the idea of Intermarium – conceptualised as a zone of states stretching from the Baltic to the Black Seas – was promoted in certain circles, particularly in Poland. The idea was revived again as a possible regional development trajectory by some conservatives and liberals in the 2000s. It can be seen as an inspiration for the Three Seas Initiative and the Chinese-backed “17+1” forum as complementary, or even alternate regional cooperation and stability frameworks. Far right groups have also embraced Intermarium, but as an alternative to the influence of Brussels and Moscow in the region. Given the recent geopolitical upheavals following Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, this presentation asks whether the Intermarium idea has definitively lost its contemporary relevance.

Matthew Kott is a researcher based at the Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies (IRES) at Uppsala University in Sweden. He is a historian mainly specialising on contemporary Latvia, but with broader interests in political and intellectual history wider Baltic–Nordic region. His most recent publication is the anthology, Defining Latvia: Recent Explorations in History, Culture, and Politics, co-edited with Siobhán Hearne and Michael Loader (CEU Press, 2022), wherein he also has a contribution examining far-right entryism in post-Soviet Latvian politics. Among his noteworthy previous work is the monograph Himmlers Norge: nordmenn I det storgermanske prosjekt, with Terje Emberland (Aschehoug, 2012), which established a new interpretation of the role of Norwegians in the imagination of the SS and their foreseen place in Nazi-controlled Europe. He is the editor of Journal of Baltic Studies.