Coalition, alliance, and military partnership activity tracker #001
A roundup of the week’s biggest developments from around the globe.
| Tag | Date | Event | Participants | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5-EYES | October 21, 2024 | Intelligence Leak | Five Eyes Intelligence alliance (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand); Israel; Iran | A series of highly classified Western intelligence documents surfaced on Telegram containing an alleged American assessment of Israeli plans to attack Iran. Biden “deeply concerned” about leak, which comes amid heightened tensions as Israel vows retaliatory strikes on Iran for ballistic missile attack of October 1, 2024. That attack, Iran claimed, came in response to assassination of Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on September 27. Source. |
| UKR/NATO | October 2024 | At least seven countries oppose Ukraine’s accession to NATO; German Chancellor Scholz argues a country at war cannot join NATO; outlets stressing the pitfalls of Ukraine’s bid to join NATO. | ||
| AXIS 2.0 | October 2024 | North Korea Troop Deployment to Russia | 3,000 North Korean Forces/Russia | Western intelligence reports confirmed reports of several thousand North Korean troops deployed to Russia, with several outlets claiming they may have been sent to the Kursk front. The move represents a startling, if “obvious escalatory step by Russia,” noted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, with concerns over Russia’s intentions of intensifying operations beyond Ukraine’s borders. Source. |
| AUKUS/INDO | October 2024 | “Maritime Big Play” - Integrated Joint Exercises in Indo-Pacific region | AUKUS partners, private sector companies. | A monthlong series of multinational exercises between the AUKUS trilateral members, focused on the joint operation of uncrewed maritime systems, the processing of naval data, real-time maritime domain awareness, experimental technologies, AI, balloons, next-gen networking systems, area reconnaissance/intelligence, etc. |
| NATO | October 24-25, 2024 | NATO Hybrid Symposium - Prague, Czechia | 100 Allied experts on adversarial use of hybrid warfare & evolving threats | The conference hosted sessions with representatives from NATO, the private sector, and academic, focused loosely on the importance of “resilience, defence, and deterrence against hybrid threats.” Source. |
| NATO | October 23-24, 2024 | Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) | Defense industry experts, NATO officials | Gathering NATO’s Allied and Interoperability Partner nations in the 2024 Autumn Plenary Session, participants discussed the challenges of the armaments community, including the complexities of planning and production, joint procurement, strategic engagement, and defense industrial cooperation. Source. |
| NATO | October 25, 2024 | Official Visit - Finland | Chair of NATO Military Committee, Finnish officials | Acting on the invitation of Finnish Chief of Defence, General Janne Jaakkola, Admiral Rob Bauer conducted an official visit to Finland to emphasize the importance of NATO’s strategic partnership with the Finns. Discussing Finland’s transition to NATO membership in an evening address to the Finnish National Defence Corps Association, Bauer told his audience, “you need never again navigate the darkness alone.” Source. |
| NATO | October 24-31, 2024 | Neptune Strike 2024 - Europe (Central Med./Adriatic to Baltic and North Seas) | Various NATO Allies (Albania, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkiye, UK, US), 20 surface vessels and submarines, special operations forces, numerous aircraft, 15,000 supporting personnel. | NATO official launched Neptune Strike 2024, an enhanced vigilance activity used to test the latest maritime joint warfare capabilities and refine interoperability among NATO’s carrier and expeditionary strike groups. |
| NATO | October 22-23, 2024 | Official Visit - NATO Eastern Flank, Estonia | NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Estonian President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Allied troops at Tapa Army Base | Conducting his first trip to NATO’s Eastern Flank, Rutte’s party visited the British, French, Estonian, and Icelandic forces of NATO’s Multinational Battlegroup stationed at Tapa Army Base. “You are one of eight NATO battlegroups stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea, backed by the full weight of NATO’s fighting forces in all domains…Every hour of your vigilance reinforces our collective defence,” Rutte said. Praising Estonia for its defense investments and support for Ukraine (500 million euros), he also met with students at Tallinn University and visited a memorial the Memorial of the Victims of Communism. |
| NATO/ARC | October 19, 2024 | 11th iteration of the Arctic Circle Assembly, Iceland | Chair of NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, Icelandic Chief of Defence, former Icelandic President, Chairman of Arctic Circle Assembly, US ambassador-at-large for Arctic | Bauer offered the event’s keynote speech. In it, he aired his concernes over Russia and China’s growing strategic partnership in the Arctic region, the need for strong NATO posturing in the High North to retain freedom of navigation and strategic initiative, the build-up of Joint Force Command Norfolk to manage NATO’s defense of the North Atlantic, and the importance of Nordic Defence Cooperation. |
| UKR/NATO | October 19, 2024 | Riga Conference, Latvia | NATO Acting Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Boris Ruge | Speaking at the Riga conference, Ruge emphasized the importance of Ukraine retaining its sovereignty and independence, stating that it was “on an irreversible path to membership.” Ruge also participated in a panel highlighting the importance of NATO’s strategic partnerships beyond Europe, and congratulated Latvian officials for their earnest support to Ukraine. |
| ARC/SCAN | October 17-18, 2024 | NORTHLINK Initiative - High North | 13 Allied States | Launched in the High North during an Icelandic Defence Ministerial Meeting, the NORTHLINK initiative will work toward developing robust and resilient satellite communications capabilities throughout the Arctic. |
| NATO | October 7-17, 2024 | Iron Wolf 2024 - II - Biannual Multinational Exercise - Silvestras Zukauskas Training Area, Pabrade, Lithuania | 3,200 soldiers from Lithuania, U.S., Belgium, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Germany; 700 pieces of military equipment. | A large-scale multinational military exercise designed to train NATO forces along the Eastern Flank. Part of NATO’s ongoing strategic efforts to bolster interoperability and operational cohesion among its eight Multinational Battlegroups, with the aim of transitioning them into full brigade-sized formations. Focus: 24-hour planning, off/def operations, integration of battlegroups with Lithuanian Army formations, combat support logistics. Source. |
| FPDA | October 1-18, 2024 | Exercise Bersama Lima 2024 - Singapore | Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) allies (New Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, UK) | A series of join exercises hosted by Singapore and led by the Singaporean Navy. The exercise involved 2,000 personnel, 38 aircraft, five ships, four ground-based air defense systems, 250 ground troops, and four dive teams, and focused on naval maneuvering, gunnery, diving serials, air-defense exercises, air-land training, troop lift missions, professional exchanges, force integration in jungle, naval, and urban environments. Source. |
Further Reading, Links, Resources
- ANZUS: Alice Dell’Era and Felix E. Martin, “Constructing Like-mindedness: Australia’s Contribution to the ANZUS Alliance through Narrative-based Coalition Building,” Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, September 10, 2024. Here.
- UKR-NATO: “At Least 7 countries resisting Ukraine’s NATO membership invitation, Politico reports,” Kyiv Independent, October 24, 2024. Here.
- QUAD: “The Wobbly Quad Is Here To Stay,” Foreign Policy October 10, 2024. Here. Other helpful and related links: Here & here.
Notes [^1]: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe (New York: Doubleday, 1948). [^2]: Peter R. Mansoor and Williamson Murray (eds.), Grand Strategy and Military Alliances (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016), 3.