NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence

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NATO-accredited Centre of Excellence based in Riga, Latvia; established 2014 by Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom; focuses on strategic communications, counter-disinformation, information operations, public affairs and related functions; early steering-group and coordination meetings attended by UK MoD officers involved in Ukraine capacity-building (including Col Gerry Osborne and Lt Col Ewen Murchison); ongoing Ukraine StratCom partnership programme


NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Type NATO-accredited Centre of Excellence
Logo
Founded 2014
Founder(s)
Dissolved
Registration ID
Status
Headquarters Riga, Latvia
Location
Area served
Services
Registration
Key people Jānis Sārts (Director)
Website stratcomcoe.org
Remarks


The NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE) is a multinational, NATO-accredited international military organisation based in Riga, Latvia. It became functional in January 2014. On 1 July 2014 seven member states—Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom—signed memorandums of understanding on its establishment. It received NATO accreditation on 1 September 2014. The 2014 Wales Summit Declaration welcomed the establishment of the StratCom COE as a meaningful contribution to NATO’s efforts in strategic communications. The Centre is not part of the NATO Command Structure and does not speak for NATO.[1][2]

Role and activities

The Centre’s mission is to support NATO’s strategic communications capability and contribute to the Alliance’s communication processes by providing comprehensive analysis, timely advice and practical support. It covers strategic communications and related functions of public affairs, public diplomacy, information operations, psychological operations and military public affairs. Focus areas include countering disinformation, digital security trends, and the strategies, tactics and methodologies of hostile actors in the information environment. It produces research reports, supports doctrine development (including NATO’s first strategic communications fundamentals doctrine), runs training and exercises, and organises events such as the Riga StratCom Dialogue. Recent work has included an ongoing Ukraine StratCom partnership programme, studies of Russian information operations, and the development of an AI Laboratory.[3][4]

United Kingdom and Ukraine links

The United Kingdom was one of the seven founding sponsoring nations in 2014. UK MoD officers involved in early Ukraine strategic-communications capacity-building attended early Centre meetings. Colonel Gerry Osborne (MoD Strategic Communications Manager/Director, 2012–2014) attended the July 2014 NATO StratCom Centre of Excellence meeting in Riga, which contributed to a 2014 study on Russia’s information campaign against Ukraine. Lieutenant Colonel Ewen Murchison (Military Strategic Effects, September 2012–August 2014) attended the first NATO StratCom Centre of Excellence steering group in Latvia in July 2014, which discussed Ukraine. Phil Jones (UK Special Defence Advisor to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, 2013–2018) participated in a February 2015 NATO StratCom Centre of Excellence coordination meeting in Latvia to assess Ukraine’s strategic communications needs. These early engagements sit within the broader UK MoD information-operations support to Ukraine that also involved the Joint Information Activities Group and, later, the 77th Brigade.[5]

Membership

Founding sponsoring nations (2014): Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, United Kingdom. Later joiners have included the Netherlands and Finland (2016), Sweden (2017), Canada (2018), Slovakia (2019), Denmark and the United States (2020), with further nations joining or in process subsequently. The Centre is staffed and financed by sponsoring nations and contributing partners. Director (as of recent reporting): Jānis Sārts.[1]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 NATO StratCom COE, About us.
  2. ↑ NATO StratCom COE history materials (archived and current).
  3. ↑ “Decoding the Information Environment: NATO’s Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence”, NATO Allied Command Transformation.
  4. ↑ NATO StratCom COE programme of work listings.
  5. ↑ David Miller, “How US and UK Government Propaganda Specialists Collaborated with Nazis in Ukraine”, MintPress News, 2022.
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