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Moscow would not even need to resort to tanks and troops to dampen the Baltic enthusiasm for secession. It could exert pressure just by slapping an embargo on fuel and raw-material shipments. Yet there are numerous way stations of sovereignty on the road to independence. Some Baltic economic thinkers believe, for example, that the region could turn into a clearinghouse between East and West, where Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians could serve as go-betweens for Westerners eager to open up the Soviet market. "The Baltic states may not be as exotic as Hong Kong, but they make a good bridge between + East and West," says Kezbers. "The Soviet Union is a vast country needing everything, and we know how it works."
The political benefits of such a strategy are obvious. "We cannot make Russia go away, and we are not about to leave Estonia," says Estonian Popular Front leader Veidemann. "So we must find a clever way to coexist and create conditions that would make the Soviet Union interested in our independence."
If Gorbachev responds wisely and generously to the nationalistic stirrings in the Baltics, he will win on two fronts: the cause of perestroika throughout the Soviet Union will be advanced, and one more irritant in East-West relations will disappear. Living next door to good neighbors is always better in the long run than sharing a home with unhappy relatives.