Lessons learned from past military operations during the last two decades highlight the difficulties of reaching meaningful political outcomes with the use of military force. Operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya are prime examples of this. Still, many Western states are preparing their militaries to wage war in densely populatedContinue Reading
The procurement agencies, Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) in Norway and Bundesamt für Ausrüstnung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr (BAAINBw) in Germany, received the binding offer from the main supplier on the 30th of October 2018, and has begun a thorough joint evaluation of the offer. – We will nowContinue Reading
How is it possible to adhere to the ancient admonishment to “know your enemy” when one’s enemies only partially know themselves? Identities, like the narratives that shape them, are largely unconscious. The serious omissions in the way target audience information is gathered, and the manner in which analysis is conducted,Continue Reading
A serious security crisis in the Nordic region would affect all the Nordic countries. That is why Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland are conducting more military exercises together. By Ministers of Defence: Frank Bakke-Jensen (Norway), Claus Hjort Frederiksen (Denmark), Peter Hultqvist (Sweden), Jussi Niinistö (Finland) og utenriksminister GudlaugurContinue Reading
Russia Does Not Have an A2/AD-strategy! Nor does it have a Gerasimov doctrine Russia’s “Anti-Access/Area Denial strategy” (A2/AD-strategy) has caught a lot of scholarly attention during the last few years (examples here, here, here, here and here). In addition, A2/AD has been a recurring theme or a talking point amongContinue Reading
Narrative Strategies (NS), a US based think/ do tank has recently released its latest publication on narrative and its critical role in influence. In fact, it specifically addresses the topic of Narrative Warfare, a term coined by Dr. Ajit Maan, one of the co-authors. This recent release is in fact,Continue Reading
Introduction: Military leaders of all branches and departments confront foreign policy on behalf of their governments, developing capacities and resilience to win the current fight against an adversary that in many cases is unknown or has a complex leadership structure. Knowing who to trust and who is willing toContinue Reading
This article (edited, shorter version) was first published by the National Interest on 8 September 2018 titled “Big War Is Back” https://nationalinterest.org/feature/big-war-back-30802 The Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War came to an abrupt end almost 30 years ago. This watershed event started a process, during which international securityContinue Reading
US Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis visited Norway on Saturday July 14th. — The United States is our closest and most important ally, and it is an honor to welcome Secretary Mattis to Oslo, said Minister of Defence Frank Bakke-Jensen in his statement. Mattis confirmed the close relations, friendshipContinue Reading
An important milestone has now been achieved, with the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) passing the last of its planned tests in the missile qualification programme. The development phase of the JSM is now in its final stage and is scheduled for completion in autumn 2018. “This is very good newsContinue Reading