Latvia’s Security in the Renewed Age of Russian Aggression with Māris Andžāns

The Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC) hosted Dr. Māris Andžāns, Director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga for a discussion focused on the Latvian response to the invasion of Ukraine including the increase in spending, defensive capabilities, and the start of conscription.

Māris Andžāns, Dr.sc.pol., is the Director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga and an Associate Professor at Riga Stradins University. Previously, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard University Davis Center, a Fellow at the Academy of International Affairs NRW in Bonn, Germany and a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He was also the Vice Rector of Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences and Senior Researcher at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs.

He has authored more than 110 publications, primarily on security and defense issues of the Baltic states, but also Central Asia, as well as transport and digital policies.

Dr. Andžāns has ten years of experience in the public administration of Latvia. He served in positions related to the coordination of EU and NATO issues, security of transport and communications, civil-military cooperation, aviation, electronic communications, and postal issues. Among other duties, he has served as the Chairman of the National Cyber Security Council of Latvia and the Dangerous Goods Movement Consultative Council of Latvia.