Trilemmas of recognition in the Baltic states' foreign policies

The article presents the results of research on the attitudes of foreign policy decision makers in the Baltic states toward several international recognition trilemmas. A trilemma describes a situation where only two of three things can hold true at the same time. In case of the recognition policy in the Baltic states, these three conditions could be identified as (1) respect of international law and state sovereignty; (2) consistency of national foreign policy and political expediency; and (3) moral obligations in the interrelations of people and states. This obligation also may be supplemented by or be related to a sympathy for national liberation movements. Of course, this trilemma may be confronted by other states as well. The Baltic states' own path to independence and international recognition makes the issue especially sensitive.ss