This book analyzes security developments in Lithuania since 1988 a period marked by liberation
from nearly fifty years of Soviet occupation the collapse of the USSR and the integration of
the country into NATO. Furmonavicius focuses on how Lithuania achieved liberation and how the
country's consequent search for integration into the European and Transatlantic security
framework has influenced the evolution of both its own and transatlantic security.
¿Furmonavicius' book offers an extremely useful and essentially pioneering interpretation of
Lithuania's recovery of its national being.¿ Anthony Packer (1940-2014) former Honorary
Counsellor of Lithuania in Cardiff UK ¿¿Furmonavicius provides a broad outline of Lithuanian
history with special attention to the period between March 11 1990 and January 13 1991. For
this period Furmonavicius cites many sources many of them difficult to find. He provides a
very useful bibliography for students of this period.¿ Ignas K. Skrupskelis Professor of
Philosophy University of South Carolina In this detailed study of how Lithuania strove to
integrate itself into European and Transatlantic security structures Furmonavicius reveals the
enduring importance of this strategic region strikingly relevant to our own unsettled times.¿
Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius Professor of History University of Tennessee ¿Furmonavicius reminds
us of the crucial role played by Lithuania in liberating itself from Soviet occupation and
hastening the end of the Soviet Union and highlights the strategic importance of the Baltic
States for European security and stability. Furmonavicius uses unique sources including
documents from the private collection of US Secretary of State James Baker interviews with
President Vytautas Landsbergis and Foreign Ministers of Lithuania Juozas Urb¿ys and Algirdas
Saudargas.¿ Patrick Salmon Chief Historian Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office UK
