To Be, or Not to Be – the Question of Forestry Resources in Bio-Diplomacy

Abstract

This analysis aims to identify the potential of bio-diplomacy focused on forestry resources in Latvia. As the resources are scarce, small states must calibrate their foreign policy to gain a global vision by offering strategic products or services. In order to identify this potential, there are employed the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) analytical methods. The results indicate that economy, climate and environmental and social factors are the most important elements to be considered. The most important driving forces for using forestry resources for bio-diplomacy are demand, volume and renewal.

Keywords

• bio-diplomacy
• forestry
• foreign
• policy