Survival of the smallest: threat perceptions among religious minorities in Latvia and Lithuania

Abstract

ABSTRACTWithin the international system, small states are expected to act a certain way vis-à-vis threats, regardless of whether the threats are objective or subjective. Does the same hold true for small non-state actors within a state? Can we expect size to be so significant as to determine how small non-states actors act? This article engages these questions by looking at four religious minority communities in Latvia and Lithuania: Hare Krishnas, Jews, Mormons, and Muslims. All four groups are demographically small and, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, all four have viewed their values and identities as threatened (though, to differing extents) by the governments, local populations, and societal organizations. Through a series of interviews, this article looks at these relations through the eyes of representatives from these four religious communities. Though all four communities see insecurity as a factor in their relations with others, the evidence suggests that size is less of a causal variable than expected.