On Feb. 14, the Estonian Ambassador to the United States, Kristjan Prikk, visited Carleton in an event funded by Carleton’s chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society (AHS). Carleton’s chapter is part of the national nonpartisan organization with the goal to educate students about foreign policy and foster discussion around current events.  

This term, the AHS is focusing on European security and pairing it with their current book club reading of Angela Stent’s Putin’s World. This book deals with Russia’s past, its relationships with other countries, and includes an updated chapter discussing the Russia-Ukraine war. 

“We found ourselves in a position where we could access and invite the Estonian Ambassador,” said Jimmy Huang ’28, vice president of the AHS. There wasn’t a specific agenda in mind when selecting the country, rather it was more so the region and the applicability of the Baltics to our conversation in that we could just continue to be informed.” The Russia-Ukraine war was one of many topics discussed in Prikk’s talk titled “The future of Europe, why should it matter to America – Estonia’s perspective” held in the Gould Library Athenaeum. 

“Prikk explained the history of their independence, what it was like during Soviet times, and then after the Soviet Union fell, what it was like in its first couple of years of independence,” said Rivers Curry ’28, the communications officer for the AHS. “He also explained “what it’s like having this massive country at its border that’s occupied [their] country for decades and decades in the 20th century.”

Prikk also gave his insight on Estonia’s history with cybersecurity, highlighting how technologically advanced they are for such a small country. This advancement was only made a priority when Russia began launching cyber attacks against Estonia decades ago. Since then, it has built strong technological defences and is a leader in digital government and security. 

Prikk named international cooperation, European security and supporting those who fight for freedom as key tools in the Western response to the war. However, he went on to describe how it is a time of dramatic change because of both  geopolitical instability associated with the Russia-Ukraine war and European political divisions and climate change. Prikk then broadened the discussion to explain his ethos on negotiation and how it works not just as a singular entity but as a global system. He referred back to Ukraine and its desire to become part of the National American Treaty Organization (NATO), addressing the potential benefits if it joined but also highlighting the complexities in regards to Russia’s reaction.

Curry said that Prikk emphasized that Estonia is  “a ‘compact country,’ a small country. And what his role as part of a compact country is in trying to make change and what organization they’re a part of. Whether that be the EU or NATO or simply bilateral relations between Estonia and the US or Estonia and other countries.”

Prikk concluded by bringing the discussion back home to the United States. He briefly spoke on the events in the first couple weeks of the Trump administration, referring to their decision to pull back support from Europe and private discussion with Putin to end the war in any way possible. 

Even from across the ocean, the United States has an impact on European security, particularly in “thinking about the events in the first couple weeks of the Trump administration and how that’s thrown everything into shambles,” said Curry. 

The AHS’s main takeaway of Prikk’s speech was that “we’ve hit an inflection point when it comes to Europe,” Curry said. “It was very clear that he saw this as an inflection point, and we need to make sure that we’re thinking about Ukraine correctly and not running brashly into a peace settlement that won’t have lasting peace.” 

“It’s events like these that help inform our discussion about such current topics,” Huang said. “What I’m certain of is that people were able to come away from this better informed on multiple of the ambassador’s points.”

As a nonpartisan organization, the AHS does not have a singular perspective on the talk, but rather used it as a forum for discussion on current events and a case study of their topic for the term.