Role of the private sector within Latvia’s strategic defence documents: Dimensions of psychological resilience and strategic communication

The comprehensive defence framework introduced in 2019 in Latvia has the potential to accelerate the implementation of national
defence priorities, thus strengthening Latvia as one of NATO’s external border states. In a time of geopolitical turbulence and increasing
hybrid threats, a whole-of-society approach is required and work in ever-new directions. As dimensions of psychological resilience and
strategic communication are becoming an important part of the defence studies debate, the study focuses on the role of the private sector
within Latvia’s strategic defence documents and aims to investigate where these dimensions are situated and how they have evolved in
the strategic landscape. To study the role and evolution of the private sector within Latvia’s strategic defence documents, quantitative
content analysis and qualitative text analysis were used for in-depth analysis of the documents. The study finds that the role of the
private sector in the strategic defence documents has generally increased over the years and there has not been a significant change
regarding private sector involvement in dimensions of psychological resilience and strategic communication. The long-term pattern
indicates that dimensions of psychological resilience and strategic communication appear rare in strategic documents, suggesting that
the private sector is not seen as a significant actor in achieving defence goals. Meanwhile, in more practical dimensions,an upward
trend towards strengthening ties and sharing responsibilities is identified. The study therefore opens up a discussion regarding the need
for a more institutionalised framework for psychological and strategic communication dimensions in order to achieve the strategic goals
of comprehensive defence.