Yale University's Baltic Studies program has already been running for 15 years. In recent academic years, however, cooperation with researchers and students from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania has been increasing.

"If I were to say that ten years ago the Baltics were like in the corner, the corner of the building, the corner of the room, now it's in the middle of the pack," said Bradley Woodworth, program manager of Yale University's Baltic Studies program. Woodworth added that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to increased interest in the Baltic region among U.S. students and researchers alike.

"Certainly, because people know how important the Baltic countries are, both territorially and politically. We are going to expand our work, to not only to hold conferences in general, but also to work with security institutions and researchers," said Woodworth.

The conference that took place at Yale University on June 13-16 was entitled "The Baltic Way: Unity and giving Aid," and is just one example of co-operation between U.S. and Baltic scholars. Those connections are only expected to strengthen in the coming years.

"For the students in our faculty, there's a big drive here to study this region. Obviously, for geopolitical reasons now but it always has been one of our priorities at the European Studies Council. In more recent years, we have had the capacity in terms of staffing, faculty leadership and support behind it to really engage in these activities," said Asia Neupane, director of programs and institutional partnerships at Yale University.

Yale's Baltic Studies program also has a major impact outside of the academic sphere.

"It is important to us that when the U.S. government is making policies that affect Estonia and the Baltic states in general, it makes those decisions based on information and analyses of the highest quality," said Estonian Ambassador to the U.S. Kristjan Prikk.

"This is a regular meeting place for people who have chosen to study the history, society, economy, and security needs of the Baltic states, including Estonia specifically, and who, on the basis of this scientific cooperation, may one day be able to advise the U.S. government," he added.

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