Read more about the article Episode 8: Wargames and Beyond: How NATO Prepares for Modern Conflict
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Episode 8: Wargames and Beyond: How NATO Prepares for Modern Conflict

In this episode of StrategicALLY, hosts Livia Perrulli and Nicola Bonsegna are joined by Major Stephen Nelson, Simulation Officer at the U.S. Army Futures Command and former Program Director for NATO’s Next Generation Modelling and Simulation. Together, we explore the strategic use of modelling, simulation, and wargaming in NATO and U.S. Army planning. We discuss how these tools support defence foresight, operational readiness, and multinational cooperation. Major Nelson shares insights on NATO’s efforts to build a common synthetic environment, enhance interoperability among Allies, and embrace new technologies such as AI, digital twins, and cloud-based platforms. Podcast edited by Livia Perrulli.

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20 May 2025
Read more about the article Defence Spending as Economic Policy? Military Keynesianism in Today’s European Context
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Defence Spending as Economic Policy? Military Keynesianism in Today’s European Context

This paper explores how recent European defence spending reflects a strategic application of military Keynesianism rather than a purely threat-driven response. While the term remains largely absent from official rhetoric, EU institutions and Member States have embraced its logic to confront a dual challenge: growing geopolitical insecurity and economic stagnation. By linking defence investment to industrial revival, regional cohesion, and political consensus-building, the EU uses military expenditure as a policy tool to stimulate growth and support rearmament. The paper identifies a secondary form of military Keynesianism, in which defence policy is deliberately bundled with broader economic objectives, showing a shift in the EU’s approach to both security and fiscal policy.

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19 May 2025
Read more about the article Bridging the Gap: The Role of EU Cybersecurity Regulations in Supporting Cyber Defence Strategy
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Bridging the Gap: The Role of EU Cybersecurity Regulations in Supporting Cyber Defence Strategy

Hybrid threats exploit the increasingly blurred line between civilian and military domains. By targeting critical civilian infrastructures (CCIs), whose cybersecurity remains the sole responsibility of civilian actors, adversaries weaken the defence sector, which heavily relies on these infrastructures. This strategy creates a blind spot in the defence community that only the EU Cyber Security Policy can address. The paper investigates the contribution of the EU Cyber Security Policy regulations to the EU Cyber Defence Policy, highlighting their synergistic relation. It bases its analysis on the NIS2 Directive as an illustrative case. By adopting a more defensive posture that integrates hybrid threats, NIS2 contributes to enhanced cyber defence that aligns with the objectives of the EU Cyber Defence Policy.

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15 May 2025
Read more about the article Rethinking European Defence: The European Defence Mechanism Proposal
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Rethinking European Defence: The European Defence Mechanism Proposal

On 12 April 2025, the European Union (EU) finance ministers, joined by their counterparts from the UK, Norway, and Switzerland, expressed their support for a joint defence fund aimed at collectively purchasing and owning military equipment. The initiative would bring together EU and selected non-EU countries to streamline defence spending and enhance coordination (Strupczewski & Badohal, 2025). This proposal originates from a report by the Bruegel think tank, commissioned by the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU. Its premise is the urgent need for the EU to achieve strategic autonomy, reversing decades of economic dependencies and fragmented strategic planning. This is deemed essential to effectively respond to contemporary threats, chief among them, a potential attack from Russia (Bortoletto, 2025; Wolff et al., 2025), following the diminishing reliability of the United States as Europe's primary security guarantor.

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14 May 2025
Read more about the article Opportunistic or Humanitarian Military Interventions? The Case of French Involvement in Africa
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Opportunistic or Humanitarian Military Interventions? The Case of French Involvement in Africa

In light of frequent discussion surrounding the motives of military interventions in conflict-affected areas, this paper examines the interaction between national interests and humanitarian and conflict-resolution. An analysis of French-led military operations in Mali, Chad and Côte d'Ivoire illustrates how national interests are major drivers of military operations, amongst other reasons. This paper also seeks to find if such findings could be justified by historical colonial ties, recommending a potential research question for further engagement with the topic.

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13 May 2025