Read more about the article Toward Hybrid Deterrence: Conceptual Foundations and the Evolution of NATO Response
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Toward Hybrid Deterrence: Conceptual Foundations and the Evolution of NATO Response

Hybrid threats, leveraging ambiguity and asymmetry, increasingly challenge NATO’s deterrence and credibility. This paper critically examines NATO’s doctrinal evolution and responses to hybrid threats since first acknowledging cyber challenges in 2002. Despite doctrinal progress and tools like Counter-Hybrid Support Teams (CHSTs) and initiatives such as Baltic Sentry, NATO’s response remains largely reactive and fragmented, activated only post-crisis rather than proactively deterring threats. Ambiguous attribution and contested thresholds further hinder collective action. The analysis highlights persistent strategic gaps and concludes by asserting that credible hybrid deterrence cannot be improvised post hoc but must be embedded systematically into NATO’s doctrine and operational architecture, a concept that will be further developed in a forthcoming companion article.

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18 June 2025
Read more about the article Renegotiating Alliances: Trump’s America’s first foreign policy and the European Union’s quest for strategic autonomy
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Renegotiating Alliances: Trump’s America’s first foreign policy and the European Union’s quest for strategic autonomy

In light of Donald Trump’s second administration and its transactional America-first foreign policy, this paper considers the implications for European strategic autonomy amid the heightened importance of US security commitments and defence capabilities. Trump’s foreign policy is driven by the belief that Europeans have taken advantage of the US within the NATO alliance and international trade, and seeks to renegotiate trade agreements, returning manufacturing to the US and shifting its strategic orientation towards Asia. In the short term, this can constrain Europe’s strategic autonomy, as European capitals are pressured to accommodate the America-first agenda to ensure the US retains vital military capabilities in Europe and continues to provide military support to Ukraine. However, in the long term, the Trump administration’s pressure on allies to spend more on defence and a degree of ambiguity over security commitments reinforces the need for European strategic autonomy and accelerates the development of capacities that enable Europe to pursue its interests more independently.

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11 June 2025
Read more about the article The Acceleration of Command and Control Through Artificial Intelligence and its Implications for European Land Forces
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The Acceleration of Command and Control Through Artificial Intelligence and its Implications for European Land Forces

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an ever more important part of command and control (C2) and the decision-making connected to it. AI systems are crucial in supporting commanders in their decision-making, allowing them to act on data and the information it carries faster and more efficiently than ever before. These systems are complex, their results are often difficult to understand or verify, and they struggle with ethical considerations. To offset these disadvantages, humans need not concur with every decision AI makes, but they should retain control and be able to intervene and stop certain decisions as they see fit. Given the faster speed that AI gives C2 activities, continuing to exercise this control will prove challenging for commanders and their staff.

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5 June 2025
Read more about the article NORDEFCO – A Blueprint for Regional Defence Cooperation?
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NORDEFCO – A Blueprint for Regional Defence Cooperation?

This paper examines the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) as a case study in pragmatic, regional defence collaboration. Despite being founded by states with divergent political alignments and defence doctrines, NORDEFCO has evolved into a flexible and low-threshold framework that promotes operational efficiency, logistical coordination, and strategic interoperability among its members. By tracing NORDEFCO’s institutional structure and historical development, the study assesses the model’s successes and limitations. While NORDEFCO’s achievements, such as multinational exercises, intelligence sharing, and education programmes, demonstrate the value of voluntary, sovereignty-conscious cooperation, its replicability is constrained by the unique geopolitical and cultural cohesion of the Nordic region. The paper further aims to provide an outlook into NORDEFCO’s possible avenues of expansion and prospective transformation following the NATO membership accession of all its members. The study concludes that NORDEFCO-NATO coalescence is crucial to overcome the agreement’s limitations to achieve real Nordic defence integration, arguing that NORDEFCO is likely to retain its relevance under NATO command thanks to its region-specific capability enhancement projects.

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3 June 2025
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