NATO must ‘win up front but be ready to win long’ in modern warfare, says General Christopher Cavoli – Atlantic Council

Watch the full event

Right now, NATOs Steadfast Defender 2024 military exercise is taking place across Europe and at sea.

The effort, the largest the Alliance has undertaken since the Cold War, is not just a demonstration of the transatlantic bond; it is also NATOs opportunity to rigorously test its defense and deterrence strategy, said General Christopher Cavoli, supreme allied commander Europe (SACEUR) and commander of US European Command.

Cavoli spoke at a May 7 Atlantic Council Front Page event, which was part of the Forward Defense programs Commanders Series (in partnership with Saab) and of the Transatlantic Security Initiatives programming organized in advance of the NATO Summit in Washington.

The general went on to say that NATOs 2020 defense and deterrence strategy is part of an effort to conduct a wholesale modernization of NATOs collective defense to respond to todays security challenges.

We had previously been optimized for a very different task, he said. Cavoli explained that after the Cold War, NATO pivoted toward conducting crisis-management missions well beyond its borders that allowed the Alliance to participate in missions on its own terms and on a predictable schedule.

But all that has changed, Cavoli said, pointing to Russias war in Ukraine. It is happening all the time, 24/7, [with] no respite for more than two years.

The war has shown that today, you either win up front, fast, and big, or youre in a long fight. So . . . win up front but be ready to win long, he said.

Below are more highlights from the event, where Cavoli touched upon NATOs plans to modernize its defenses and the intensifying threats to the Alliance.

Katherine Walla is an associate director on the editorial team at the Atlantic Council.

Image: General Christopher Cavoli speaks at the Atlantic Council on May 7, 2024.

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NATO must 'win up front but be ready to win long' in modern warfare, says General Christopher Cavoli - Atlantic Council