The European security landscape has shifted over recent years, and at its heart is NATO—still an organization that consistently demonstrates it can learn to adapt, respond, and innovate in the face of shifting threats. Great power war is back on the continent, but wars today aren’t about tanks and missiles only. Instead, they couple old-fashioned military aggression with a quiet war of sabotage, cyber war, and subversion.
Russia’s war with Ukraine and the West is much more than conventional warfare. Russian activities, as they are characterized by military experts, encompass a whole range of covert attacks from debilitating infrastructure and defense centers to striking at means of transport and government offices.
The methods have the objective of destabilizing cultures, introducing insecurity, and undermining popular faith, but without the unmistakable indicators of open conflict. Explosives, cyber attacks, weaponized migration, and even attacks on submarine cables are all additions to this new, untested battlefield.
This is the backyard of NATO. From the ruins of World War II, the alliance was created not only to confront Soviet expansionism but to drive out the militaristic nationalism of the past and promote European integration. In the decades that followed, NATO expanded from a rigid defense alliance to a flexible organization with the ability to manage crises, uphold peace, and later to fight hybrid threats. Adaptability has been embedded in the DNA of the alliance.
The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine shattered the post-Cold War idea of a permanent European order. In its aftermath, NATO has acted aggressively: stationing multinational battlegroups on its frontier, doubling forward presence, and developing novel defense concepts founded upon speed and resilience of reinforcement. It seeks to be able to defend any member under threat in good time and with force.
But the threat is nonconventional. Hybrid methods—cyber, sabotage, disinformation, and economic pressure—allow competitors to destabilize countries at minimal cost with plausible deniability. The attacks make it hard for governments and militaries to defend themselves, which has led NATO to reassess what deterrence even means anymore in the 21st century.
The partnership’s response has been to commit to investment in resilience, innovation, and collective capability. The Hague 2025 summit leaders pledged to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, at least 3.5% for core military needs. The focus now extends far beyond traditional forces; cyber defense, space power, and tempo of mobilization are now included in deterrence.
Civil-military coordination is a first-line defense in today’s world. Societies must be able to hold up against incursions into cyberspace, sabotage, and informational warfare. Building resilience into the infrastructure, intelligence information-sharing, and keeping key services up and running while under duress are all encompassed under this umbrella strategy. Here, deterrence is as much a function of toughness as it is firepower: making sure that any would-be aggressor will know that attacks won’t succeed at their goals.
Technology has also come up as a front of utmost significance. NATO is investing in surveillance capabilities, unmanned systems, and artificial intelligence, and it has launched programs to accelerate innovation in its member countries. Commercial relationships, such as space-based assets, have a priority so that the relationship can stay ahead on a strategic front based on private sector experience.
Alliances remain central. NATO remains cooperative with the European Union, non-member countries, and other partners around the globe in creating a robust, networked defense and deterrence system. This approach unites military capability with the readiness of society, technological superiority, and multilateral cooperation.
In today’s interconnected security environment, deterrence is not merely about raw power. It’s about cultivating solid societies, secure networks, and rock-solid alliances. The shadow war can be stealthy and changeable, but NATO’s response is biting sharper, lighter, and tighter than ever before.
