As geopolitical rivalry intensifies and security guarantees appear increasingly uncertain, societies around the world are rediscovering what it means to live in the shadow of a more powerful neighbour. Why is it that Russia’s neighbours foresaw the aggression against Ukraine when much of the West looked away? And what kind of peace can truly endure? ‘Endangered States’ explores how repeated experiences of lost statehood and existential threat have shaped the political cultures of Russia’s direct neighbours. For these nations, sovereignty is not a legal abstraction but a condition of survival. Memories of occupation, displacement, and political subjugation continue to influence foreign policy, strategic thinking, and public expectations of war and peace. Rather than viewing the region as a geopolitical periphery, the authors present it as a laboratory of the future. To understand the future of Europe - and an increasingly uncertain world - we must first understand the politics of survival.