NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE)

The NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE) became functional in January 2014. On July 1 the same year, seven member states – Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom – signed memorandums of understanding on the establishment of the StratCom COE. The centre received NATO accreditation on 1 September 2014, and, as stated in the 2014 Wales Summit Declaration, Allies welcomed, '…the establishment of the StratCom COE as a meaningful contribution to NATO’s efforts…' in the area of strategic communications.

The NATO StratCom COE, based in Riga, Latvia, contributes to improved strategic communications capabilities within the Alliance and Allied nations. Strategic communication is an integral part of the efforts to achieve the Alliance’s political and military objectives, thus it is increasingly important that the Alliance communicates in an appropriate, timely, accurate and responsive manner on its evolving roles, objectives and missions.

The mission of the NATO StratCom COE is to contribute to the Alliance’s communication processes by providing comprehensive analyses, timely advice and practical support to the Alliance. It's strength is built by multinational and cross-sector participants from the civilian and military, private and academic sectors and usage of modern technologies, virtual tools for analyses, research and decision making.

Main activities of the NATO StratCom COE in 2015:

+ Support the development of a NATO Military Committee Strategic Communications policy and doctrine
+ Research how to identify the early signals of a hybrid warfare scenario
+ Develop Academic Magazine 'Defence Strategic Communications'
+ Study Russia’s Information Campaign against Ukraine
+ Research how NATO and its members could protect themselves from subversive leverage
+ Research 10 years of ISAF Strategic Communications efforts to extract best practices and lessons learned
+ Analyse the implementation of the NATO Strategic Communications policy throughout the NATO Command Structure
+ Research the implementation of Strategic Communications within Allied nations
+ Research ISIL information campaign and its influence on NATO countries’ societies
+ Develop Strategic Communications online course 'Strategic Communications for beginners', courses for senior officials, basic and advanced courses for international staff officers
+ Support NATO StratCom training and education, including exercises education
+ Study how social media is being used as a weapon in hybrid warfare.