“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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Allies recently agreed to a new cost sharing formula whereby European members and Canada will increase their contributions to NATO’s three common funded budgets allowing the US share to decrease. This new arrangement is a consequence of the reluctance of many European nations to spend more on defence and the perceived need to send positive signals to the White House.
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ICDS Chief Executive Dmitri Teperik participated in expert discussion on NATO evolution during last 70 years.
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European Strategic Autonomy (ESA) is currently the subject of some debate and controversy. While this issue has been on the table since at least the 1990s, it was reinvigorated by the publication of the EU Global Strategy in 2016, itself a response to fundamental developments in European security.
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In times when allies and partners of the United States have grown accustomed to negative news from Washington D.C., it is reassuring to learn more details on how the U.S. military is implementing its 2018 National Defense Strategy.
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On 27 September 2019, the well-informed Norwegian security and defence portal Aldrimer.no reported that Russian Spetsnaz units were recently found operating inside Norwegian territory. More specifically, Russian forces were discovered both on Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, and on mainland Norway.
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For just under a decade, the Baltic states have actively participated in Operation Saber Strike, an annual series of multinational tactical exercises led by U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) to enhance cooperation within the alliance and illustrate the combined capabilities on the Eastern flank.
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Erkki Bahovski, editor-in-chief of ICDS Diplomaatia magazine, analysed the withdrawal of Russian troops from Estonia 25 years ago, and reminded that Russia would have got excellent pretext to keep her troops in Estonia if some events in 1993 would have gone another way.
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Estonia’s role in the world is not only related to our geographical location, instead, our future is increasingly shaped by global developments. Who will become a global superpower? What will be the position of Europe in the new world order – and Estonia’s place in that Europe? How should we face the new threats surrounding us? Is NATO the only answer?
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ICDS research fellow Kalev Stoicescu wrote in an opinion article in the Estonian daily Postimees about NATO – a collective defence “pensioner” at 70 years of age – being in an excellent shape. He explained the reasons why NATO has successfully survived the end of the Cold War, and continues to transform and strengthen its role and capabilities.
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