Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

This paper is devoted to tracing contemporary perceptions of energy security. Energy security, as a concept started its evolution from a point, where it was identified with secure oil provision for countries, which did not possess energetic resources and were increasingly dependent on oil imports. Gradually, the concept of energy security started to be repeatedly used in the scientific papers, popular press and media and even colloquial language. Energy security has become an argument in making political decisions. Nevertheless, despite the exaggerated attention to energy security, still there is no unanimous agreement on what the concept of energy security means, what facets it embraces and, consequently, how it could be measured and controlled. The paper aims to distinguish the main perceptions of energy security and foresee plausible implications of one or another approach adopted.

The aim of this paper is to estimate and to compare sustainable development processes in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia focusing on institutional dimension of sustainable development. Attention has been focused on the selection of system of indicators with particular emphasis on institutional indicators. The authors employ the most popular two multicriteria methods: Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) and multi-criteria complex proportional method (MCP). Data embracing 2004-2010 year period is being analyzed. In order to obtain a multi-faceted view, several variants of sustainable development estimations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are being performed. Each variant represents a different approach to development perception. The difference lies in emphasis, which is being put on the economic and institutional aspects of development. Hypothesis has been raised that the different methods employed may affect comparison results.

International migration has become a key challenge and concern in the European Union (EU) and most part of the word. On the one hand, the freedom to move to another Member State is the right guaranteed for all the EU citizens. On the other hand, emigration or immigration is a longstanding concern for policy makers in many countries. Generally, human capital is one of the future sustainable competitiveness resources. Moreover, now, as the Lisbon Strategy is being replaced by the new EU strategy Europe 2020 for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (2010), there is evidence that mobility in the EU will increase. In order to achieve the goals of the strategy Europe 2020 (2010), especially employment target, the flagship initiative “Youth on the Move” places a lot of emphasis on mobility as in moving to another country to study, train or work. The perceptions of this research show that growing mobility can be followed with new migration trends in the future. Moreover, no single answer to the question what level of migration (emigration or immigration) should be tolerated in the context of sustainable developing economy could be provided. This research not only confirms this observation and theoretical problem of “sustainable migration” but goes much further by discussing the reasons why one of the highest emigration rates in the EU happened to be found in Lithuania.

In contemporary economy innovations by the scientists are seen as a driving force of the economic development. Innovation performance is vital to achieve sustainable country’s competition and to stay in pace with other developed economies (Grossmann 2009).

The aim of this article is to formulate hypotheses about the impact of the foreign direct investment (FDI) on sustainable development indicators of differently developed countries with reference to the relevant scientific literature. The impact of foreign direct investment on development and facets of sustainable development has been discussed in this article. After the review of the relevant scientific literature some consistent patterns have been identified, what, finally, led to the formulation of initial hypotheses. The countries were grouped according to the level of their development. A set of sustainable development indicators reflecting different facets of sustainability and sensitive to countries’ development level has been distinguished. The following indicators have been considered as relevant for inclusion into the set, which would be used for estimation of FDI impact on enhancing well-being in the unevenly developed countries: GDP, exports, inflation, population, life expectancy at birth, primary school pupils, infant mortality, total health expenditure per capita, total tax rate, internet users, and residential consumption of electricity). As this article is focused for the long-term perspective of FDI impact on sustainable development, it was based on three aspects of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. Series of hypothesis have been formulated in this paper.