Enhanced Forward Presence

British Power in Baltic Weather: The UK’s Role in Nordic-Baltic Security and UK-Estonia Defence Cooperation

For many decades, the United Kingdom has been an important player in the Nordic-Baltic region, and today it aims to increase its contribution to security and stability of the region. The UK has long been an attractive partner for countries in the region that seek to maintain strong relations with the geopolitical heavyweight possessing a similar outlook on the security environment, transatlantic relations, utility of military force, and the threat from Russia. Given London’s interest for global engagement and its limited means, ensuring continuous and reliable British involvement in the region is a priority for Nordic-Baltic states.

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Initial Reflections on the Recommendations of the Participants of the Expert Dialogue on NATO-Russia Military Risk Reduction in Europe

Those who have read Clausewitz, not least of all the Russian military establishment, know that war is a tool of policy. Paraphrasing Clausewitz, Lenin stated that conflict and war are inseparable from the political conditions that engender them. The recommendations recently produced by a working group of experts from Russia, the United States and Europe depart from these insights.

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A View from the Frontline: Estonian Experience

“The Baltic states are where NATO is at its weakest and Russia, its strongest,” ICDS Director Sven Sakkov provides a sobering view of the threats and developments from the frontline states of NATO’s Eastern Flank in the recent NATO Defense College Research Paper “The Alliance Five Years after Crimea: Implementing the Wales Summit Pledges”.

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Kalev Stoicescu in The Baltic Times: Russia’s Ambitions in the Baltic Region

“Judging by the Kremlin’s deeds (not its different rhetoric and narratives), Russia does not wish to accept anything less on its western and south western peripheries (the Baltic and Black Sea theatres) than clear military dominance,” Kalev Stoicescu, Research Fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security, writes in his commentary in The Baltic Times 2019 Summer Magazine.

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ICDS Talk: The Future of eFP – More Well-developed Training Areas, Pre-positioned Equipment and Proactive Planning

NATO battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have been a success, according to ICDS research fellows Kalev Stoicescu and Pauli Järvenpää, presenting their recent report, “Contemporary Deterrence: Insights and Lessons from Enhanced Forward Presence”, to a full house on 1 February. “They are fully integrated into the land forces brigades and contribute to the self-defence capabilities of their host nations, the chain of command is clear and they are providing a deterrent presence.”

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ABCD 2018

This year’s Annual Baltic Conference on Defence (ABCD), co-organised by the ICDS and the Estonian Ministry of Defence, was held on 25-26 September.

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NATO Brussels Summit: Prospects and Opportunities

The next NATO Summit meeting will be held in Brussels on 11–12 July. The heads of state and government will be taking stock of the decisions of the Wales and Warsaw Summits and implement further the adaptation of the Alliance to respond to the wide range of 21st-century security challenges.

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