As I approach the end of my tenure as NATO Secretary General, I look back at some of the important lessons of the past 10 years that I believe must continue to guide the Alliance in the future.

Modern, well-functioning, agile and responsive militaries rely on personnel with an eclectic range of skills and attributes. This, by definition, requires a diverse workforce. Militaries are historically predominantly male, but across NATO, Allied forces are looking to recruit and retain more women in their ranks. Women still only occupy an average of 9 to 16% of roles across NATO Allies, and shocking reporting in mainstream media of military rape cultures and rife sexual violence may detrimentally impact the future recruitment and retention of women in militaries.

Undersea infrastructure is vital in a global economy powered by data. 99% of the world’s data is transmitted through a global network of subsea cables. An estimated USD 10 trillion in financial transactions alone traverses these vast cable networks each day. As well as data cables, critical undersea infrastructure also includes electricity connectors and pipelines supplying oil and gas. As great power tensions escalate, undersea infrastructure serving the Euro-Atlantic community has emerged as an attractive target for hybrid interference, meaning that the security of this infrastructure should be a NATO priority.

NATO is “brain dead.” NATO is “obsolete.” NATO is “a relic of the Cold War.” These are the familiar tropes espoused by NATO’s critics who have become drowned out by the Russian onslaught in Ukraine. With Putin’s brutal invasion, the march of authoritarianism has quickened its step. NATO, however, has responded with a demonstration of unity and resolve capable of redefining the future of the Alliance, if we can bring ourselves to admit an uncomfortable truth: the fight for democracy in the 21st century is an existential one and NATO is an indispensable party to the conflict.

At their February 2024 meeting, Allied Defence Ministers formally adopted NATO’s Biotechnology and Human Enhancement Technologies Strategy. Current NATO staff driving the development and delivery of this Strategy outline one of its main features: the first-ever set of Principles of Responsible Use for Biotechnology and Human Enhancement technologies in defence and security.

In February 1988, I sat in a plain interrogation room in Portsmouth, England, under arrest. I had been warned that what I said may be used to prosecute me, and my answers were written down word-for-word by a naval policeman, then taken page-by-by page to be typed up for me to sign. I was asked detailed questions about my sex life and about whom I counted among my friends in the armed forces.

In an article previously published on NATO Review, I explained that the nature of modern warfare is changing at a rapid pace. Consequently, wars are no longer merely about kinetic operations. This means that it is not just physical warfare, but also non-military strategies and tactics that define modern-day conflicts and wars.

Against a backdrop of conflict and global security concerns, 2023 may prove to have also been a pivotal year for automated nuclear weapons systems. A year that began with chatbots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the subjects of major news stories - some with particularly concerning headlines - ended with members of the United States Congress introducing legislation to ban AI systems from nuclear weapons and US President Biden signing an Executive Order on the subject. The issue was even raised in discussions between the United States and China at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which met in San Francisco in November.

This year we are commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s accession to NATO, which marked a watershed moment on the path to ensuring our national security. Joining NATO gave not only Czechia but also all of Central and Eastern Europe the greatest guarantee of security in its entire history.

I asked the receptionist at a Lviv hotel I was staying in if she had any Sellotape I could borrow. I had an important package to deliver, and it was crucial for it to be well wrapped. The woman handed her stationery set to me and I perched on the edge of a chair in the hotel lobby to get on with my task. The package I was wrapping could not be sent by ordinary mail. I had to deliver it personally because its destination was in the world of the dead.