What Needs to Be Done?
Panel Discussion
Jüri Luik, Director, International Centre for Defense and Security, Tallinn
General (ret.) Egon Ramms, Senior Research Fellow, International Centre for Defense and Security, Tallinn
Chair:
Svenja Sinjen, Head, Future Forum Berlin, DGAP
Russia poses a serious threat to NATO, particular to the Baltic States. It has labelled NATO an adversary, developed a mix of capabilities to confront it, and conducted offensive exercises, including some with a nuclear dimension. In May 2016, Tallinn’s International Centre for Defense and Security published a study on NATO’s current ability to defend the Baltic States against potential Russian aggression. The study concludes that NATO’s current posture, which is reliant on the reinforcement of the Baltic States, lacks credibility; the Alliance would be unable to deny Russia a military fait accompli in the region and, given Russia’s “anti-access/area denial” (A2/AD) capabilities, to rapidly deploy additional forces there. On this basis, the authors suggest a list of measures to increase NATO’s ability to defend the Baltic States more effectively. We would like to discuss the study’s key findings with two of its authors.
This event is the 6th in a series of DGAP discussions on the topic of “NATO before Warsaw: Necessary Adaptations in Defense Policy.” It is organized by the Future Forum Berlin and the USA/Transatlantic Relations Program, DGAP.
