NATO STO

1. Undertake a project of foundational analysis to delineate the basic principles—both traditional and more recent—upon which democratic societies rest; and to characterize, diagnose, and forecast the current attack on and threat to democracy posed by anti-democratic adversaries in the information environment. This foundational analyses may incorporate Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats analysis to better understand why current information and communication technological conditions pose threats and opportunities to democracy, as well as democracies’ strengths and weaknesses in the current technological context; and/or a center-of-gravity analysis to better understand the weaknesses in democracy that lead it to be exploited in this technological context, and how it can be safeguarded. 2. Elucidate and advance potential roles that can be played by Defence Departments and Armed Forces in national and international efforts to characterize and counter the generalized attack on democracy currently being faced, as well as individual instances of it, and to manage and mitigate the threat such attacks pose. First, a review would be undertaken of current linkages being made by alliance governments between Defence mandates and activities and the objective of defending and protecting democracy. Based on this review, we would attempt to define, advance, and advise upon some possible roles that Defence Departments and Armed Forces already integrally hold and could more overtly assume in the defence of democracy. These roles could include: a) Incorporating a mission of defending democracy and democratic values into strategic and operational mission statements, planning, narratives and development of tactics, along with strategic, operational, and other forms of communications; b) Developing and applying best practices for promoting and reflecting a mission of defending democracy and democratic values in strategic communications and other proactive messaging oriented at publics; c) Maintaining and reinforcing democratic principles as a value at the heart of defence conduct and activities, while better understanding what trade-offs in democratic conduct may sometimes arise for armed forces active at various points along the conflict spectrum, and considering how these trade-offs could be better managed and communicated about; d) Developing information environment analysis tools, processes, and products capable of baselining democratic conditions and identifying when these are under threat or attack, particularly by adversaries in under-the-threshold and hybrid warfare contexts; e) Developing threat assessments through the use of d) to inform whole-of-government and whole-of-alliance activities when democratic conditions are observed to be under attack; f) Creating a playbook and further developing and/or testing of audience-appropriate, democracy-bolstering information, education, engagement and other communication and media interventions and best practices that defence departments armed forces, or other institutional entities, could undertake in the IE to pre-empt or mitigate identified threats to democracy, in keeping with their respective mandates; g) Establishing principles for the development and application of d), e), and f) that respect democratic principles, norms and laws and provide guidance for working appropriately and legally with social media data and companies. 3. Specify what governmental structures, relationships, processes, and understandings are needed to facilitate Defence Departments playing a helpful and effective role in defending democracy, both internationally and domestically.