How do NATO Allies train to counter a form of warfare that is difficult to identify and hard to defend against?
Hybrid means of warfare – propaganda, deception, sabotage and other non-military tactics – have long been used in lieu of (or sometimes in conjunction with) overt, conventional military action. In recent years, the use of hybrid tactics has increased in speed, scale and intensity. How does NATO counter this difficult, covert threat? In 2018, Latvia held Exercise Namejs, its largest military maneuver since the restoration of independence in 1991. They practiced responding against what Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Leonīds Kalniņš called a scenario “very, very close to our perception about threats in our region” – that is, a wide-scale disinformation campaign as a prelude to armed conflict. Exercises like Namejs are useful not only for Latvia, but for the Alliance at large, as Allies share hard-won information and best practices. Footage includes shots of NATO Allies during Namejs 18 and soundbites from NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, Ben Heap, a hybrid warfare expert at the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence, and Lt. Gen. Leonīds Kalniņš.
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