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In their 2023 article, “Russia Won’t Sit Idly by after Finland and Sweden Join NATO,” Nicholas Lokker and Heli Hautala argued that it would be a mistake to assume Russia won’t respond to NATO’s expansion, especially once their preoccupation with the war in Ukraine ceases. Two years later, we asked them to revisit their analysis in light of recent Russian gray zone influence tactics employed in the Baltics.Image: Jesper Sundström, Swedish Armed ForcesIn your 2023 article, “Russia Won’t Sit Idly by after Finland and Sweden Join NATO,” you argued that it would be a mistake to assume that Russia wouldn’t respond