Kaliningrad Oblast was created as a war trophy and a symbol of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945/1946. For nearly seven decades, it played a strictly military role in Soviet and Russian foreign policy, mostly limited to its Baltic Sea surroundings. This changed when Vladimir Putin came...

Due to its strategic immensity and opportunities for covert action, the maritime domain has become the most prominent arena of modern-day great power rivalry. In the shadow of this confrontation and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Baltic Sea is now the focus of geopolitical...