The Baltic Way and The Singing Revolution: Examples of Peaceful Political Transition

On August 23, 1989, approximately two million people stood hand in hand between Tallin, Riga and Vilnius (capital cities of the Baltic states) in the most unique expression of protest the world had ever seen - an uninterrupted chain of people holding hands for 400 miles, remembering the 50th anniversary of the Soviet-Nazi Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop-pact). This pact was a classified agreement between Soviet Union and Nazi Germany which envisaged a division and occupation of Eastern Europe. The popularity of protest songs and other cultural forms of non-violent resistance led to the political awaking of the Baltic nations called the Singing Revolution. The Baltic nations were able to reassert their identity and regain freedom through culture. About the speaker: Liva Liepina was most recently a consultant to the State Chancellery of Latvia (Prime Minister’ Office), where her area of responsibilities included developing a human resource development policy for the Latvian public administration focused on public service effectiveness. She is interested in strategic human resource management and in building leadership within public administration. She earned a law degree from the University of Latvia in Riga, Latvia, and a Professional Master’s degree in public administration from the School of Business Administration at Turiba University, also in Riga. She is also a lecturer at the Latvian School of Public Administration.