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In a historic first, Swiss defence minister joins meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council
22 Mar. 2023

In a historic first, Swiss defence minister joins meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council

Viola Amherd, Swiss Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, visited NATO Headquarters on Wednesday (22 March 2023) for talks with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and to meet with NATO ambassadors. Her participation in the North Atlantic Council was the first-ever by a Swiss defence minister.

NATO’s DIANA expands transatlantic footprint, gears up for first challenges

NATO’s DIANA expands transatlantic footprint, gears up for first challenges

NATO Secretary General launches his Annual Report for 2022

NATO Secretary General launches his Annual Report for 2022

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The Secretary General

Jens Stoltenberg

NATO Review

    • Strategic messaging 16 Mar. 2023 Today, the battle for hearts and minds is unfolding on the devices in the palms of our hands. How do governments and international organisations get ahead in this new war of narratives, and how do we secure the victory for truth?
    • A comprehensive and coordinated approach to strategic messaging 16 Mar. 2023 Today, the battle for hearts and minds is unfolding on the devices in the palms of our hands. The media environment operates with unfamiliar rules and without systems of checks and balances, and information proliferates at an extraordinary pace. How do governments and international organisations get ahead in this new war of narratives, and how do we secure the victory for truth?
    • Women in Uniform 16 Feb. 2023 For International Women’s Day, we have collected some of our favourite photos of women in uniform taken throughout NATO’s history. Women are integral to the success of Allied forces, filling vital roles like pilot, engineer, medic, radio and telephone operator, soldier and strategic planner, to name just a few.
    • A year ago I volunteered as a soldier in the Ukrainian army 16 Feb. 2023 I’d never served in the Armed Forces before. Hadn’t even done compulsory military service. I’d always been a journalist – both before 2014, when I lived in Crimea, and after 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and I had to move to Kyiv. Then in 2022, on day two of Russia’s full-scale invasion, I went and joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
    • Nuclear coercion 02 Feb. 2023 In 2022, the spectre of nuclear weapons use has returned to centre stage in Europe.
    • Russia’s nuclear coercion in Ukraine 02 Feb. 2023 In 2022, the spectre of nuclear weapons use has returned to centre stage in Europe. From the very beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has brandished his country’s nuclear sword in an attempt to compel Ukraine to capitulate to Russia’s demands and to deter NATO from intervention. This is the most significant attempt at prolonged, consistent, and conscious nuclear coercion against NATO and its partners in almost forty years. We must therefore reflect on Russia’s nuclear coercion with considerable scrutiny.
    • Deterrence: what it can (and cannot) do 20 Dec. 2022 The last article that we are republishing as part of 70 Years of NATO Review was written by consistent and long-time NATO Review author, Michael Ruhle, in April 2015. While that might not seem like very long ago, this piece is evidence of just how much has changed in the last eight-or-so years. In the 2000s and early 2010s, deterrence had become a dormant concept, all but cast aside at the end of the Cold War to make space for countering new challenges and enlarging the Alliance. In 2014, following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, deterrence was pulled out and dusted off to take centre stage as one of NATO’s traditional core tasks and the backbone to Article 5. Russian aggression in Ukraine highlighted the necessity of ensuring that NATO’s deterrence and defence posture was and would remain credible and effective.
    • Change and continuity 14 Dec. 2022 This article, written by former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson at the end of his tenure in 2003, reflects on his four years at the helm. He oversaw one of the most turbulent periods in NATO’s history. The Cold War had ended. The troops were going home. Without the ever-present threat of Soviet invasion, Allies were rapidly demobilising their forces – eager to spend the 'peace dividend' on social programmes for their citizens at home, rather than on armed forces stationed abroad. Doomsayers were – as always – foretelling the imminent disintegration of the Alliance. The Warsaw Pact had been relegated to the ash heap of history, and, according to them, NATO was about to go the same way.
    • Knowledge security: insights for NATO 30 Sep. 2022 Knowledge security entails mitigating the risks of espionage, unwanted knowledge transfers, intellectual property theft, data leakage and the misuse of dual-use technology (technology that is primarily “focused on commercial markets but may also have defence and security applications”). In the context of research on and the development of high-end technology, knowledge security is vital to NATO’s ability to deter and defend against adversaries and protect the prosperity of its members.
    • NATO's role in a changing world 16 Sep. 2022 This article was written in April 1990 by Sir Michael Alexander, who was serving as the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to NATO. It reflects on the historic months that followed Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms in the Soviet Union and the subsequent fall of the Berlin Wall – the so-called 'end of history', per Francis Fukuyama.
    • The 1982 Summit and after: a personal view 14 Jul. 2022 This article was written in 1982 by Sir Clive Rose, a former Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council from the United Kingdom. In it, Sir Clive provides a personal view on the 1982 NATO Summit in Bonn, Germany, where Allied leaders agreed to invite Spain to join NATO. Forty years later, having just concluded the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, we can look back and see many familiar themes in Sir Clive’s words – but also notice some key differences between then and now.
    • The consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for international security 07 Jul. 2022 February 24, 2022, is likely to engrave itself on the history template of the contemporary world. Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified and barbaric invasion of Ukraine is not only a manifestation of a huge security danger that has shattered peace in Europe. More structurally, it has broken the entire security architecture, built patiently on the continent over many decades, including international commitments agreed in the last 30 years. In short: almost every single agreement and principle of international law has fallen victim to the aggression ordered by Putin.
    • The Madrid Strategic Concept and the future of NATO 02 Jun. 2022 At the Brussels Summit in June 2021, NATO leaders agreed to begin work on a new Strategic Concept, which will be adopted at the upcoming Summit in Madrid in June 2022. The last such Concept was agreed back in 2010 when the world was a different place.
    • Moving towards security: preparing NATO for climate-related migration 19 May. 2022 Globally, most states and international institutions are unprepared for the coming magnitude of climate-related migration. NATO member countries, already at the forefront of conflict-related migration, will be destinations for migrants leaving areas that are becoming unlivable under changing climate conditions.
    • The present state of East-West relations 09 May. 2022 This article, written in 1976 by then-Secretary General Joseph Luns, may evoke the old adage that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The 1970s saw a period of détente, or the easing of tensions, between the “West” (NATO) and the “East” (the Warsaw Pact, led by the Soviet Union). Despite warming relations and plenty of good-faith diplomacy, there were still concerns that the Soviet Union would continue its attempts to expand its sphere of influence through unpredictable actions, ideological conflict and even open hostility.
    • Risk, Uncertainty and Innovation 14 Apr. 2022 The Alliance faces significant challenges from disruptive technologies and innovations in both conventional and hybrid methods of war. Distinguishing between uncertainty and risk can help to better prepare for emerging threats and to direct innovative initiatives to counter them.
    • Extending NATO: retirement plan not required 04 Apr. 2022 Ups and downs in NATO’s fortunes are nothing new, and predictions of NATO’s demise are almost as old as the Alliance itself. What is remarkable is not the Alliance’s decline but its longevity.
    • That Council of Yours 07 Mar. 2022 The following article was written by André de Staercke, a former Belgian politician and permanent representative to NATO, for the 20th anniversary of the Alliance in April 1969. It reflects upon NATO’s early years and the appointments of its initial Secretaries General, each of whom brought something unique to the Alliance.

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Resilience and Article 3

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