Potential and changes for peripheral regions in a digital world: the case of Estonia

Without doubt, Estonia with its 1.3 Million inhabitant is a small state on the periphery of the EU. The proposed paper argues that the targeted efforts of “E-Estonia” to build a digital society and to achieve a leading role in Europe and beyond in the field of IT and cyber technology are underpinned by the motivation to avoid being stuck in the role of a small state in a semi-peripheral area of Europe. States, especially small states, of this kind have to keep themselves from falling into the category of peripheral states, which potentially would have dire consequences on their economic and general capabilities as a state while they strive to join the category of core states. While it has commonly been argued, that states of this category tend to apply aggressive protectionist policies, the example of Estonia, and in particular of Estonia as an EU member state, shows that states can also chose dedicated policies of innovation and technological avantgarde to secure their place and even push above their weight. For Estonia this policy also leads to further benefits, so the planned paper. Due to the country’s security concern caused by its geopolitical location, a strategic placement within the EU’s structure and single market also leads to added external security and thus preventing it from being sucked into the vortex of the periphery with yet another large state that would unlike European and transatlantic structures not allow for a large extent of Estonian independence, may that be in political or economical terms. The proposed paper argues that the Estonian state purposefully utilises private entities and research institutions through supporting research and development. This can be described as Estonia aiming for a favourable position in geo-economic competition through assisting or directing domestic private entities to balance its small state characteristics and comparably weak hard power. Estonia utilises the country’s digital portfolio for public diplomacy, nation-branding and to strategically position itself within the EU and transatlantic structure thus strengthening Estonia’s overall security and position by safeguarding that its voice will be heard. The argument will be that Estonia identified its own interest and successfully influenced discourses within NATO and EU on cyber-security and e-governance topics and thus avoiding mere bandwagoning with larger powers as commonly expected from small states. Estonia’s policies serve multiple roles, that is to place the country in a favourable economic situation while avoiding economic and political distance from the core with all the attached disadvantages as laid down by world system theories as well as to gain added security in light of a perceived threat from the neighbouring Russian Federation. Furthermore, the digitalisation and cyber-security strategies of the country can be described as a successful attempt to balance the detriments, framed in economic or security terms, of a small-state in a semi-peripheral setting affected by a structurally inferior environment and the predicaments of guaranteeing security for a small state.