| Abstract [eng] |
As geopolitical situation intensified in Europe, the principle of total defence has been embraced as a national defence policy that involves citizens together with other sectors of the country into defence capabilities. Instead of relying on its military and NATO allies, Lithuania, a young democracy is one of those countries which implemented total defence principle. This master’s project explores the role of citizens in the implementation of total defence in Lithuania focusing on citizen participation in civil resistance. The topic demonstrates relevance as it addresses the need to understand the role of citizens in Lithuania’s total defence in the face of emerging geopolitical threats. At the same time, the project shows novelty as it focuses on Lithuania’s implementation of the Strategy for Preparing Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania for Civil Resistance, providing a thorough analysis of citizen involvement in defence policy and filling a gap on total defence application in young democracies such as Lithuania. The research problem is formulated as follows: development and challenges of the role of citizens in the implementation of total defence principle in Lithuania. The main research object is the role of citizens in the implementation of total defence principle in Lithuania while the aim of the project is to evaluate the involvement of citizens and define the progress of civil resistance strategy in the implementation of total defence principle in Lithuania. The project composed four objectives to reach the aim of the research which are (1) to analyse a theoretical framework of the role of citizens in the implementation of total defence, (2) to explore the context and the legal environment of citizen involvement in the implementation of total defence in Lithuania, (3) to define the involvement of citizens in the implementation of total defence principle in Lithuania based on strategic documents and (4) to identify the progress of citizen involvement in the implementation of total defence principle in Lithuania. The project used qualitative research methodology consisting of a systematic literature review of defence policies in Nordic countries and Switzerland and a contextual analysis of Lithuania’s legal environment of citizen involvement in defence policy implementation. Moreover, secondary data from annual governmental reports and public opinion surveys were used to complement the insights of eight conducted interviews with subject matter experts. The key findings of the research reveal that Lithuania integrated its citizens into the national defence through the principle of total defence in the current political background. The small country took measures similar to the examples from the Nordics and Switzerland and addressed national challenges by strengthening its overall defence posture, increasing resilience and deterring possible enemy. Conducted theoretical framework indicated that the application of total defence and specifically the focus of including citizens provide them the role within defence capabilities and assure collective preparation for civil resistance during peacetime. Equally important is to define the role of citizens and their involvement in countries’ normative and strategic documents, however, as research found, limitations emerge when it comes to the inclusion of ethnic minority groups into building resilience and preparing these citizens for civil resistance. While it is important to define the roles for ministries and organisations such as the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union (LRU) when implementing the Strategy too, the paper finds that it is crucial to employ civil society organisations, especially, NGOs who too educate and train citizens for civil resistance. The inclusion of NGOs into the implementation of the Strategy can substitute the personnel shortages experienced by Mobilisation and Civil Resistance Department (MCRD) and LRU. Nevertheless, Lithuania demonstrates commitment and progress when implementing the Strategy for Preparing Citizens of the Republic of Lithuania for Civil Resistance, however, the implementation of the Strategy appears to be focused mainly on the Ministry of National Defence and LRU. Other bodies such as the Ministry of Social Security and Labour (SOCMIN) on the other hand lack attention and funding to raise people’s participation in voluntary and community bond activities which greatly contribute to strengthening resilience of the country, therefore, there is a need to allocate resources for other ministries to perform their tasks when implementing the Strategy and possibly involving NGOs to help SOCMIN to achieve its goals. If Lithuania addresses these limitations, it can serve as a model to other countries throughout Europe who seek to involve their citizens into national defence by applying the principle of total defence. The project consists of 63 pages, 15 tables, 13 figures and two appendices. The project used 49 sources of scientific literature and 35 information sources. |
