NATO Review

At the NATO Summit in The Hague, NATO leaders recognised that in order to deter any future military conflict, Allies will have to pledge to spending 5% of their GDP to defence (of which up to 1.5% may be spent on defence-related investments). This has created the conditions for Allies to channel robust funding into governmental contracts with the defence industry in order to meet the new Capability Targets that are assigned for each Ally to generate collective effect. To meet these targets and acquire capabilities at pace, NATO now has to greatly increase and optimise the capacity of its defence industrial base. The updated Defence Production Action Plan, publicly released at the Summit in The Hague presents a concrete programme to optimise and strengthen the Allied defence industry, maximise its outcomes and increase Allies’ return on investment.

Recent events have solidified the Baltic Sea as an area of critical strategic importance. It serves as a vital maritime trading route, hosts considerable networks of Critical Undersea Infrastructure (CUI), and holds significant potential for the development of new sources of energy. As a result, it is also an area which is highly vulnerable to the increasingly prevalent threat of hybrid attacks – that is, attacks just below the threshold of kinetic warfare, which blur the lines between peace and conflict, such as the sabotage of critical infrastructure.

Three years on from the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the values of liberty and volia—a unique Ukrainian word that signifies an unyielding drive for freedom and overcoming obstacles — have remained central to Ukraine’s identity. They say that the true value of something is only fully understood when it is either lost or when one gives everything to defend it. As we endure this war, we Ukrainians fully understand what it means to be free.

Many Colombians were surprised when the government announced in 2017 that their country was becoming a NATO “global partner”. In a polarised political atmosphere, where citizens are accustomed to news and debates about combatting armed rebels and criminal groups, this development was confusing. Was the country becoming a member of the Alliance? Were Colombian soldiers to be deployed in remote war theatres? Could NATO members support Colombia if the country went to war?

The United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated every year on December 3rd. This year, the international community is also celebrating the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The Geneva Conventions are cornerstones of international humanitarian law that came in the wake of World War II and the Holocaust, when hundreds of thousands of persons with disabilities were exterminated alongside Jewish people and other minorities. The Nuremberg tribunal found that the mass killing of persons with disabilities during World War II constituted a crime against humanity, and thus gave explicit recognition to persecution based on disability.

As I approach the end of my tenure as NATO Secretary General, I look back at some of the important lessons of the past 10 years that I believe must continue to guide the Alliance in the future.

Undersea infrastructure is vital in a global economy powered by data. 99% of the world’s data is transmitted through a global network of subsea cables. An estimated USD 10 trillion in financial transactions alone traverses these vast cable networks each day. As well as data cables, critical undersea infrastructure also includes electricity connectors and pipelines supplying oil and gas. As great power tensions escalate, undersea infrastructure serving the Euro-Atlantic community has emerged as an attractive target for hybrid interference, meaning that the security of this infrastructure should be a NATO priority.

At their February 2024 meeting, Allied Defence Ministers formally adopted NATO’s Biotechnology and Human Enhancement Technologies Strategy. Current NATO staff driving the development and delivery of this Strategy outline one of its main features: the first-ever set of Principles of Responsible Use for Biotechnology and Human Enhancement technologies in defence and security.

In an article previously published on NATO Review, I explained that the nature of modern warfare is changing at a rapid pace. Consequently, wars are no longer merely about kinetic operations. This means that it is not just physical warfare, but also non-military strategies and tactics that define modern-day conflicts and wars.

This year we are commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s accession to NATO, which marked a watershed moment on the path to ensuring our national security. Joining NATO gave not only Czechia but also all of Central and Eastern Europe the greatest guarantee of security in its entire history.

In early February 2022, as the drumbeat of war grew louder and louder, I sat glued to my phone, scrolling social media, and starting to build what would eventually become Saint Javelin. It had been several years since I’d worked as a journalist in Ukraine, but I couldn’t focus on anything besides the impending invasion. As global leaders released waves of intelligence about Putin’s intentions, my mind began to replay key moments that shaped my understanding of Russia’s brutality against Ukraine.

During the horror of World War II, many Jewish families in Belgium were forced to hide their children in the hopes that they would avoid detection by the Gestapo and ultimately survive the war. In Belgium alone, more than 5000 children survived the genocide via disguise and concealment from the world. This is the story of Baroness Regina Sluszny: one of Belgium’s remaining Holocaust survivors, and one of the Hidden Children.

NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept defines climate change as a “crisis and a threat multiplier”, but what does that actually mean for NATO’s ability to deter and defend? At the NATO Summit in Brussels in 2021, Allies agreed to put climate change at the top of NATO’s agenda, endeavouring to become the leading international organisation when it comes to understanding and adapting to the impact of this epochal phenomenon on security. The new Strategic Concept, which was agreed at the 2022 Madrid Summit, reaffirmed this commitment. Since then, NATO has produced several flagship reports on the topic, which show how the effects of climate change have profound impacts on everyday life. However, there is still a strong need to explore how climate change affects NATO operations across different domains.