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NATO Pirates in the Baltic Sea? Lawfare in Russian Deterrence Strategy
The chapter “NATO Pirates in the Baltic Sea? Lawfare in Russian Deterrence Strategy” explores how lawfare has become integral to Russia’s coercive signaling strategies. Mariia examines the escalating piracy rhetoric employed by Russian officials in response to European states’ detention of shadow fleet vessels suspected of damaging undersea infrastructure in the Baltic. This narrative reveals how the Kremlin appropriates the authority of international law to achieve strategic ends. By characterizing European navies as pirates—against whom international law grants any state universal jurisdiction—Moscow effectively threatens European navies with escalation and legitimizes potential use of force.
Please find the full text available in open access on the official page of the Russia Conference at the Baltic Defense College.
Cameron Hunter at the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium Conference
Dr Cameron Hunter contributed to the EU’s Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium Conference held in Brussels. He chaired a panel on ‘East Asia’s Strategic Landscape: Power Dynamics and Regional Dialogue’, bringing together experts from China, Japan and Australia.
The UN, NATO, IAEA, European Commission, EEAS and many thinktanks were all represented at the conference.
Resilience is the New Black: NATO in and Beyond the Grey Zone
The trope of resilience has emerged as a staple in NATO’s grappling with the many hybrid challenges it is currently facing both in the so-called grey zone of coercion, below the threshold of traditionally conceived violent attacks, and beyond. NATO’s coming to terms with the hybrid challenges through the past decade has been persistent, if somewhat piecemeal. There was a notable delay in recognising the nature and scope of the threat posed by Russia up until its brazen full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 on behalf of the North Atlantic allies. NATO’s framing of the Russia-challenge as primarily “hybrid” was paralysing the Alliance’s strategic diagnosis of its historical antagonist’s revisionist ambitions too long, thus delimiting the Alliance’s readiness and response to such a large-scale conventional challenge, at a tragic expense of Ukrainian lives. As the continuum between resilience and traditionally conceived deterrence by denial is shrinking, NATO’s tailorship of effective countermeasures to complex modern threats and challenges in and beyond the grey zone can only benefit from embracing resilience thinking, with an emphasis on anticipation, creative and flexible adaptation and the inclusivity of diverse decision-makers.
Cameron Hunter at KCL Wargames Week
Dr Cameron Hunter attended the long-running Wargames Week conference at King’s College London. He was invited to discuss how to model nuclear weapons and emerging technologies in professional wargaming. While attending the event, Cameron also had the chance to participate in a Taiwan contingency crisis game run by Evan D’Alessandro.
Call for a research intern, Autumn Term 2025
The ERC RITUAL DETERRENCE project team is looking for a research intern for the Autumn Term 2025. The internship is part of the research internship scheme of the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. Its gist is supporting our political and sociological analysis of conflict simulations/wargames deterrence.
- The intern would assist with data collection, observing a table-top wargame held at KU and providing observation notes as a rapporteur. The scenario will be NATO-Russia deterrence politics in the near future.
- To achieve this, we would assign readings and undertake practice sessions with the intern to develop their skills in this area.
- The ideal candidate would have a high level of empathy, emotional intelligence and keen observation skills – no prior experience of wargaming is necessary. The simulations are seminar-style, not computer assisted, so technical experience is also not required.
Please send a short expression of interest to: Dr Cameron Hunter (cpa@ifs.ku.dk; cc: Prof. Maria Mälksoo, maria.malksoo@ifs.ku.dk) by May 5th, 2025.