It is vital that a rapid and greater awareness is generated of the threats societies face and the need for a renewed partnership between government and citizens. One danger is a level of naivety and short-term thinking at the local level. Realisation of the threat landscape is growing in Europe, but at too slow a pace. Politicians have sometimes reacted cautiously to warnings by intelligence agencies of malign efforts to undermine societal resilience, worried about causing panic in society. This attitude not only under-estimates the resilience of populations in democracies but prevents the all-important establishment of a Resilience Partnership between the state and the people. Therefore, it is time to treat people as citizens in a common struggle for freedom and, to do that, the state needs to be honest about the level and nature of contemporary threats.
Resilience is also generally weaker the further one is from the Russian border. There is a critical lack of understanding and appreciation of the proximity of threats. This lack of cognisance across societies needs to be addressed holistically by NATO and the EU and then targeted specifically to meet differing national needs. Improved strategic communications between the state and population, allied to improved education over the responsibility of the citizen in civil defence is urgently needed. Resilience education should start with targeting younger members of society, at an early age, to understand the effects of disinformation from threats (internal, such as extreme nationalism supported by outside states, as well as external, such as direct state activities).
The Chief Enabler for Resilience at every level will be the capacity to exploit new technology to bring together more effective civil and military cooperation. More effective whole-of-society responses need functioning digital interoperability, detailed planning, and contingency testing through exercises. AI could help fuse information requirements and prioritise data for decision-making and prioritisation. Single Synthetic Environment (SSE) technology should be adopted rapidly to facilitate multi-domain operations (MDO) cooperation, test ideas, exercise and further develop the ‘War Books’ recommendations. Consequence mapping is now so complex that it exceeds human capacity – SSEs offer a route through this – and provides an invaluable decision support tool for the modern operating environment.
To increase resilience at home and abroad a fundamental rethink of the provision of reserves is required. Across the Alliance many more reserves, not only for the military but also for emergency services and other enablers, are needed urgently. The various systems for mobilising reserves will differ across the Allies, and whilst conscription works for some, it is not suitable for all. That said, the scope for companies to second paid critical expertise to the state should be explored.