On August 23, 1939 - 60 years ago next month -- Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact - the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop pact -- that contained secret protocols giving the Baltic states to the USSR. 
Those Baltic nations -- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - then languished for 50 years, suffering the "Russification" of their countries, while losing literally scores of thousands of citizens to deportations to the camps of Siberia. 
But on August 23, 1989 - 50 years to the day after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact - the Baltic Nations burst back into the world's consciousness, breaking five decades of USSR domination. 
On that day a decade ago, people in the Baltics formed a human chain stretching 400 miles through all three Baltic nations. This massive demonstration brought the Baltics back to the world's attention and became the first step toward renewed independence for the Baltics - independence that was achieved in 1991 as the three countries shed over 50 years of Soviet shackles. 
But what has happened since those dramatic days? How have the Baltic nations come to terms with their past? And what do their futures look like? Such questions have become an area of study and research for Calvin College professor of political science Robert De Vries (above) - who recently returned from four weeks in the Baltics. 
De Vries says the place of ethnic minorities in Eastern European countries plays a critical role in the future of those countries. When ethnic majorities and ethnic minorities can live together in peace within the boundaries of a single country, that country has a chance. When the two sides cannot get along, the world witnesses Bosnia. And Kosovo. 
De Vries says that the relationships between ethnic minorities and majorities are at a critical juncture right now in the former republics of the Soviet Union. How such groups resolve their differences will determine whether or not the recent struggles in Kosovo are replicated in such countries as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 
During his month in the Baltics, De Vries taught a three-week course at Lithuania Christian College and traveled to Estonia and Latvia. He believes those countries have bright futures, but notes that they have a lot of work to do. 
"Latvia and Estonia," he says, "have significant minority populations. But the interesting thing is that the new minority since independence are the Russians. Before they were dominant. The Baltics (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) were under Russian rule for decades. Russia tried to squelch the national identity of the countries by superimposing a Russian identity. They moved leaders and intellectuals out of Lituania and Latvia and Estonia. Some went to Siberia; some were simply killed and Russians were moved to replace them. And now those countries are independent. Suddenly the Russians are a minority. So now what? Now the people need to learn how to get along." 
De Vries notes that Latvia is almost 40 percent Russian while Estonia is about 30 percent Russian, so Russians are a significant ethnic minority presence in both countries (Russians are about 8 percent of Lithuania, while Poles number about 7 percent). 
Since independence Estonia and Latvia - as well as Lithuania to a lesser extent -- have discriminated against Russians. For instance, for decades Russian was the official language of the schools in Estonia and Latvia. But recently they passed laws that will phase in Estonian and Latvian as the language of instruction in their respective countries, including in the Russian-speaking areas. As a first step Estonia fired 20 teachers who spoke only Russian, a move that is raising red flags for groups such as the OSCE that monitor such activities. 
Estonia and Latvia also have made it tough for Russians to gain citizenship. As a result hundreds of thousands cannot vote in national elections and have a hard time traveling abroad. Such measures, says De Vries, have led to serious tensions. 
"Estonia," he says, "was on the verge of civil war in 1993. The tensions have been much reduced since then, but problems continue." 
A lot of the credit for taming tensions in the Baltics goes, says De Vries, to the work of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) -- a group which began during the Cold War and now has shifted its focus to protecting ethnic minorities and helping countries create civic democracies. 
Last year, De Vries met with Max van der Stoel, the OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities. That visit came during a three-week fact-finding trip that De Vries made to the Netherlands, Austria, Poland and Bosnia. 
This year De Vries journeyed to Eastern Europe to teach a class at Lithuania Christian College called "Christian Perspectives on Politics, Democracy and Civil Society." He also spent a week doing more research on his specialty - nationalism and the protection of ethnic minorities. Both experiences were worth his while. 
"The class was fantastic," he says. "I had six students. All were Lithuanian citizens, but some were ethnic Russians. They came from different religious background - Catholic, Baptist and Orthodox. One couple had worked for the Billy Graham Crusades in Latvia. And their personal experiences and stories - grandparents who lived under Stalin, for example -- were very moving." 
Roman Catholicism is the predominant Christian expression in Lithuania. However, the Lutheran, Reformed and Baptist churches also persevered through the Soviet era. Since Lithuania achieved independence in 1991, the Free Church movement and various charismatic movements have also appeared. 
De Vries says the Reformed perspective on politics that he brought as a Calvin professor resonated with the students. "Many of the students," he says, "are cynical about politics. More so than Americans. The Soviet experience has harmed them. And now, in this fledgling democracy they see corruption and graft. Their faith in politics is pretty low. So at first my Reformed perspective may have been tough to swallow. I started to explain to them that one's Christianity pertains to every aspect of life. And that politics is, or ideally should be, both an object of and an agent of redemptive work in the world. The Kingdom is coming and politics has an important role to play in that process. That became exciting to these students. They could see how politics has the potential for great evil, but they also began to get a sense of how politics can help establish right relationships. They could see the importance of civil society for stimulating an alert and engaged citizenry and for imposing barriers to totalitarian rule." 
While in Lithuania, De Vries observed a new national holiday in the Baltics - The National Day of Sorrow. It's a day to remember the people who were purged under Stalin's rule - sent to the mines and camps of Siberia. De Vries attended a service in a park - a service centered around a statue of a young man with a vice on his head, his face a picture of agony. Around the statue are markers with the names of people who died under the Communist system. There a service took place as part of The National Day of Sorrow - a service whose centerpiece was the Catholic Mass. 
"It (the service) showed how the Catholic Church is a powerful symbol of national identity," says De Vries, "all the more so since it also suffered oppression under Soviet rule." 
De Vries says he watched for two hours in a driving rain as participants made speeches, presented flowers, took part in the Mass and remembered the dead. 
"It started before I came and went on after I left," he says. "All the while the rain fell. This is an important day for Lithuania." 
The drama of that service is mirrored in the dramatic changes taking place in society. The Baltics are in the middle of three revolutions says De Vries - one versus Russian rule, one from a centralized economy to a market economy and one a political revolution from totalitarian communism to democracy. 
"Put these three together," says De Vries, "and you witness dramatic, and sometimes traumatic, changes. Each of these countries will, I expect, continue to come to terms with itself over the next few years. I am optimistic about their futures and about their eventual integration into the Western world."