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This research investigates the impact of folk culture and folk dance groups on civic and cultural identity building in the Latvian diaspora. It presents a case study of an American-Latvian folk dance group, using a mixed-methods approach to analyse the historical background, attitudes and preferences of dancers. The author argues that participation in folk culture provides access to the Latvian nation and an element of Latvian identity, regardless of ethno-linguistic background or home country. The ritual of rehearsal, performance and party provide individuals the opportunity to engage together in community building that not only strengthens the relationships of individuals, but also builds the social capital of the community and the ability to develop a cultural appreciation that contributes to the Latvian nation.

This edited volume, featuring accomplished scholars, is about the information wars in the Baltic states, a battle that pits Russia against the West with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as sites of contention for great power politics. Chapters address responses from titular populations, local Russian speakers, national governments, activists, journalists, and NATO, as well as the impact of Russian foreign policy on media. Janis Chakars is Associate Professor of Communication and Digital Media at Neumann University, USA. Indra Ekmanis is Baltic Sea Fellow and Editor of the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, USA. .

Chapter 1: Introduction -- Part I: The Weight of History -- Chapter 2: Echoes of the Past: Media and History in the Baltic Battlespace -- Chapter 3: Russian Disinformation: The Forest Brothers, Baltic Resistance, and NATO -- Part II: The Weight of Ethnicity -- Chapter 4: Making Sense of Public Media in Times of Geo-Political Crisis: Latvian Public Media and their Ethno-Linguistic Majority and Minority Audiences -- Chapter 5: Building Bridges: Estonian- and Russian-Speaking TV Audiences and the Value of Estonian Public Service Broadcasting, 2010–2020.-Chapter 6: Building or Banning? Russian-Language TV in Latvia -- Part III: The Digital Challenges -- Chapter 7: Bots, Trolls, Elves, and the Information War in Lithuania: Theoretical Considerations and Practical Problems -- Chapter 8: Robotrolling in the Baltic States -- Part IV: The Responses,- Chapter 9: Disinformation Analysis and Citizen Activism in the "Post-Truth" Era: The Case of DebunkEU.org -- Chapter 10: The Perils of Defense in an Information War: Media, Minorities, and the Threat Next Door -- Chapter 11: NATO's Response to Information Warfare Threats -- Part V: The Complications -- Chapter 12: "Let Them Flee to Sweden: There, Everyone Looks at Them More Politely": Gay Propaganda and LGBT Rights in the Baltic States -- Chapter 13: The Best of Enemies: Identity, Recursion, and the Convergence of Kremlin and Estonian Strategic Narratives in the Global Populist Discourse -- Part VI: Epilogue -- Chapter 14: Epilogue: Baltic Journalists Respond to Disinformation.