NDC Policy Brief No.09/21 on ‘Net assessment: “competition is for losers”‘ and NDC Policy Brief No.10/21 on ‘NATO, strategy and net assessment’

• NDC Policy Brief 09-21: Net assessment: “competition is for losers”, by Andrea Gilli*

• NDC Policy Brief 10-21: NATO, strategy and net assessment, by Niccolò Petrelli**

Under the guidance of the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in 2020 NATO embarked on a reflection process aimed at equipping the Alliance for the challenges of 2030.1

Composed of several parts, actors and phases, the process ultimately aims to make NATO more relevant in the years ahead when technological disruption, climate change, competition among Great Powers and violent non-state actors will pose new and major threats. Ideas, proposals, and recommendations are coming in from within and from outside the Alliance. Interestingly, among the recommendations, several voices have called for NATO to expand its net assessment capabilities.2

For most observers, even in the security and defence world, net assessment is an esoteric word. While many may have heard of Andrew Marshall and the US Department of Defense’s Office of Net Assessment, most would probably struggle to define the term. This Policy Brief provides a short introduction to the topic: what is net assessment, how and why has it emerged, how reliable is it and how could NATO use it?

Download Policy Brief 09/21 to keep reading, and/or
Download Policy Brief 10/21