Grybauskaite’s Doctrine: Lithuanian Foreign Policy and the Role of President

Project idea

The main task of the project is to conduct a study on the foreign policy of the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė. Grybauskaitė's positions and personal principles affecting Lithuania's foreign policy decisions during the period of 2009 - 2019 will be analysed. The study should assess the mutual relationship between the 'structural forces' of the international system, that create a pressure for a small state to be adaptive and reactive, on the one hand, and the ambitions of 'an agent' having personal positions and believes, on the other hand. This would be the first coherent study in the field of the Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) in Lithuania. The case study would help to assess the role of the President in the process of Lithuania's foreign policymaking. The study focuses on the shifts in Grybauskaitė's positions from 2009 to 2019, and these dynamics are illustrated by reviewing the most important events of the decade of Lithuania's foreign policy. The main advantage of the study is the authentic data collected during interviews with Grybauskaitė's advisers on foreign policy and national security, Lithuanian diplomats, ambassadors and exclusive interviews with Grybauskaitė.