The Case of the Russians in Latvia and the Need of the Comprehensive Research Approach in Contemporary International Relations

Abstract

This article refers to the problem of the Russians in Latvia and a catalogue of determinants that accompany the processes of naturalization and social integration in this country. The article claims that the legal analysis alone is not a sufficient attitude to understand the complex character of both processes. The full picture of the naturalization and social integration in Latvia would be impossible without a much deeper analysis of historical, social, (internal) political and international context of both problems, to include the question of the attitude of the Russian community living in Latvia towards the independent Latvian statehood. Finally, the case of the Russians in Latvia is the illustration of the thesis about a need of the comprehensive and multivariable research attitude to social and political processes in contemporary international relations, and especially in East-Central Europe.