Resilience — a society's timely preparedness, its ability to withstand and recover from any crisis, including military attack — also depends on an active civil society, since in recent decades our understanding of resilience has shifted from a "top-down" approach to a "bottom-up" one, which places greater responsibility on individuals, communities and the wider civil society for matters relating to security and defence. The civic aspects of resilience discussed in this article are analysed in detail in my publication "The Civic Dimension of Resilience: The Case of Latvia and Finland," a chapter in the 2026 volume edited by Rasa Smaliukienė, David Schultz and Vidmantė Giedraitytė, "Democratic Resilience in the Baltics, Vol. 2: Societal Resilience as a Defensive Power," which offers a broad and comprehensive study of the concept of resilience in the context of Baltic security.
Four areas can be identified within the civic dimension of resilience that deserve attention when considering society's capacity for self-organisation, as well as strong state–society relations in crisis situations. Within each of these areas it is possible to define clear, measurable indicators to assess the civic aspects of societal resilience, both in comparison with other countries and over time, making it possible to manage these intangible yet no less essential resilience factors in a targeted way. First, resilience depends on society's knowledge and skills for how to act in emergency situations, as well as on each citizen's individual understanding of national security and national defence and their own role within it. This aspect is shaped both by civic education at the general-education level and by the strategic communication of the institutions responsible for public security.
Social relationships are the second area characterising societal resilience in its civic dimension, fostered by strong social ties, local community cooperation networks and individually built social capital, social cohesion and the capacity for self-organisation to address specific issues, civic and political participation, and a sense of belonging to the local community, region and state. A society with these characteristics can overcome crises more quickly and effectively, since it has access not only to support from the relevant state and municipal institutions but also to the diverse resources available to the community itself, such as knowledge and skills, technological equipment, funding and more. Social trust, sense of belonging, and the level of civic and political participation are among the indicators regularly measured in various cross-country studies, which in turn makes it possible to assess the social-relations aspect within the context of resilience as well.
Governance culture and quality at the national and municipal levels are also linked to resilience, as they determine the ability of civil society and governing institutions to cooperate effectively during crises. This is shaped by effective, transparent, inclusive and accountable governance and leadership, democratic discussion and deliberation in addressing issues of public importance, equal access to social and welfare services, a culture of mutual trust and dialogue, and citizens' trust in officials and institutions. These aspects of the civic dimension of resilience are characterised by indicators such as political trust, public satisfaction with the political system, and citizens' willingness to defend the country in the event of a military attack — which in turn depends heavily on political factors and on society's assessment of how well politicians' decisions and actions align with the public interest and the common good.
Finally, society's ability to act effectively in crises also depends on the timely, accurate and sufficient flow of information, which is why information and communication form another area to be considered within the civic aspect of resilience. For this area to function effectively, a range of literacies related to the information space are needed, such as media literacy. From a civic standpoint, the cognitive dimension of the information space — that is, society's beliefs and attitudes that shape behaviour — is of primary importance. In this respect, education in the broad sense plays a very significant role, as it equips people with the knowledge and skills needed not only to assess processes within the media and social-media space, but also to critically evaluate the content of information — something possible only if a person understands basic principles relating to politics, health, finance and other areas essential to the life of society and the individual.
In the publication "The Civic Dimension of Resilience: The Case of Latvia and Finland," all of the civic-dimension resilience indicators listed above are analysed comparatively between Latvia and Finland. Analysis of secondary data shows that Finland's civil-society development indicators are higher than Latvia's. The comparison of the civic aspects of resilience in Finland and Latvia shows that Finland has higher emergency preparedness, more active interaction between society and responsible institutions, a slightly higher awareness of Russia as a security threat, higher social trust and civic and political participation, an equally high sense of local and national belonging, higher political trust and evaluation of the political system, significantly higher willingness to defend the country, and higher media literacy. Given that Finland is a country with one of the best-developed models of comprehensive national defence — one that Latvia has itself used as an example and a benchmark — the article's most significant conclusion is that the effective functioning of this model is also closely tied to a broad set of social and political factors, which must likewise be taken into account when considering national security and national defence.
Link to the article.
Link to the book.
