Yea only reason it's so concrete in my mind is this book. Otherwise before whenever I heard 'petro dollar' all it would summon was fuzzy/wrong explanations from a shitty YouTube video
Edit: took out unnecessary word
The reality behind the NATO membership of Baltic countries is that NATO wouldn't be able to mobilize fast enough to prevent the Russian invasion.
There's already a big minority of Russians in Estonia and Latvia - around 25% in each, while the population of both is about 2.3 million in total. Lithuania has only 4.8% of Russians, but still has population of only 2.8 million. Russian minorities could cause an uprising in case of war.
The Baltic states are already surrounded by Russia and Belarus. From the west there's Kalingrad, from the east Russia, from the south there's Belarus. It might be hard to secure strategic routes and the airspace.
The United States is sending soldiers not only to eastern front of NATO, but also to non-NATO countries - Ukraine, while the bordering NATO country refuses to have US troops on its soil. From the POV of Russia this is not a comfortable position. In geopolitics what matters is the physical reality, the strategic assessment of the current landscape. Once the troops are in their places, they will be played like pawns.
One small incident can open up a full scale conflict. The situation should be de-escalated as soon as possible.
I was recommended to read a book named "The Colder War" by Marin Katusa (Canadian geopolitician) from 2015, which explains the new dynamics in the world. This issue is also included.
Another interesting, albeit fictional book I was recommended, written by former Deputy SACEUR Richard Shirreff, is "2017 War With Russia", gives an extreme but probable scenario based off previous Russian actions in Ukraine and applies them to weakened NATO defenses in the Baltics (Russia invades the Baltics). This book touches upon the scenario described above.