Si Vis Pacem, Para Resistentiam — If You Want Peace, Prepare for Resistance
In a rare and courageous step, the government of Lithuania recently issued a guide on how its citizens can resist a potential Russian invasion and occupation — by force of arms if need be. Given the disparity of conventional military forces between Russia and the three Baltic states, as well as Russia's geographic advantage in the region, this is a measure that makes eminent sense. It is worthy of moral and practical support from the United States and other NATO allies.
Lithuania hopes to deter aggression by making it clear to a potential attacker that even if an invasion should initially succeed the fight would be far from over, and thus loss of territory will not mean loss of the war. But preparing for resistance is not the only defensive measure Lithuania is taking to maintain the peace. Resistance is a key element of the “Total Defense” strategy which all three Baltic states have been pursuing to varying degrees in recent years, spurred on by Russian aggression in Crimea, eastern Ukraine, and elsewhere.
Total Defense involves the entire society, from the government to the private sector to individual citizens. Citizen involvement has been a vital part of Lithuanian thinking on national defense, and it is embedded in its Constitution, National Security Strategy and 2016 Military Strategy. Total Defense aims to make it harder for a potential aggressor to destabilize a country in the run-up to an attack, and, should this and other elements of deterrence fail to prevent an invasion, to make the country “indigestible” for any occupying force. Estonia has long had a similar defense concept, and the Latvian government is committed to strengthening its National Guard and urging all citizens to play an active role in resisting any aggression.
Baltic history is rich with examples of resistance, from the “Forest Brothers” partisans who heroically fought first Nazi, then Soviet occupiers during and after World War II, to the peaceful “singing revolution” that led to Baltic independence from the collapsing Soviet Union in 1991. However, the history of the Forest Brothers, who were ultimately wiped out by the KGB and its predecessors after several years of valiant fighting, also shows that popular resistance against a ruthless occupying force may not be enough to liberate a country. Resistance can delay an invasion, demonstrate that the country under attack remains a sovereign entity even under occupation, help rally international support and impose a heavy toll on the occupation forces, but assistance from outside will ultimately be needed to force out an entrenched occupier....
The remainder of this commentary is available on nationalinterest.org.
Jan Osburg is a senior engineer, Stephen J. Flanagan is a senior political scientist and Marta Kepe is an analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.
This commentary originally appeared on The National Interest on November 22, 2016. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
