This paper will attempt to establish whether a two tier policy model can be effective in understanding how small states deal with soft security threats. The two tiers to be studied are the international level and the national level. Since small states do not have the resources of large states, they seek protection and help from international institutions. They also seek to influence international institutions to their benefit. On the national level they aim to use their resources to achieve those same goals, but not necessarily in the same manner. To do this Estonia will be used as a case study. Estonia is a good country to study cyber-security, energy security, and national identity security. In all three categories Russia has posed some level of threat. Cyber-attacks happened after the Bronze Soldier incident, Estonia is being avoided as an energy transit partner and Russia is attempting to keep the ethnic Russian population pro Russia though the media and campaign financing. This paper will analyze how Estonia has responded to each of these three threats both on the international and national level. The tactics and strategic goals in both levels will be compared and contrasted. In doing this we can better understand whether a two tier approach can be helpful in understanding small state behavior.
