These challenges affect our security on both sides of the Atlantic. They are each different, but there is only one way for North America and Europe to tackle them, and that is together, in NATO.

With U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration, as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, firmly committed to the trans-Atlantic bond and to working more with Europe, we have a unique opportunity and profound responsibility to make our strong alliance even stronger.

At the NATO summit in June, leaders endorsed our bold NATO 2030 agenda for the next decade and beyond to strengthen the alliance in a contested world.

We decided to use NATO even more as the essential forum for security consultations and decisions among our 30 nations. We are strengthening our deterrence and defense posture across all domains — land, sea, air, space and cyberspace. We are continuing to fight terrorism and work with the international community to contribute to stability on our borders, including by drawing important lessons from past missions.

At the same time, we are stepping up our efforts in other areas, notably on resilience, technology and the security impact of climate change. We are developing alliancewide objectives to boost the resilience of our societies, infrastructure and supply chains. By reducing vulnerabilities and dependencies, we will better resist outside interference, bounce back faster from attacks and ensure our militaries can effectively operate at all times.

Working, together in NATO, we are sharpening our technological edge to remain competitive. This includes investing in the latest technologies, from artificial intelligence to biotech and quantum computers. We have launched a Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, or DIANA, and have set up a new NATO Innovation Fund. Both DIANA and the Innovation Fund will allow us to better harness civilian innovation for our security and facilitate trans-Atlantic cooperation and exchanges on critical technologies.

Finally, we are addressing the impact of climate change on our security. It is a threat and a crisis multiplier, and we have to adapt our awareness and readiness accordingly. Allies are also investing in sustainable solutions, including biofuels for jet aircraft and solar panels to power equipment. In addition, and for the first time ever, NATO is developing a methodology across the alliance to map military emissions so we can cut them.

In all these areas, NATO will engage even more closely with partners that share our values and interests, including countries, organizations, private companies and academic institutions. Preserving peace, the global rules and our democratic way of life is a collective effort.

In June 2022, NATO leaders will meet again, this time in Madrid, Spain. They will endorse NATO’s next Strategic Concept — a key document that will chart the way ahead for the alliance. The last Strategic Concept, which dates back to 2010, refers to Russia as a strategic partner; it does not mention China, and only briefly alludes to technology and climate. The new document will reflect our changed security environment and restate our fundamental values while reaffirming the centrality of the trans-Atlantic bond to our security and defense.

As we look to the year ahead, we must continue to deliver on our commitment to trans-Atlantic unity and turn our NATO 2030 decisions into action. This way, we will continue to ensure security and freedom of all our people in a more uncertain world.

Jens Stoltenberg is the secretary general of NATO.

For NATO, this means we must remain ready to tackle any challenge, at any time, to keep our people safe — including during pandemics. Our militaries across the alliance have been playing a vital role in fighting the virus and saving lives.

As we enter a new year and allies start rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, we can start to gradually recover from the health crisis. NATO has ensured that it did not turn into a security crisis. But we must continue to adapt to a rapidly changing security environment.

The NATO 2030 initiative is about preparing for the unexpected, by keeping NATO a strong military alliance, making it politically stronger and ensuring it takes a more global approach.

To keep NATO militarily strong, our nations need to continue investing in defense so that we have the best militaries with the right capabilities. To keep our technological edge, allies should invest even more in cutting-edge capabilities like artificial intelligence, big data and quantum computing.

One of the reasons we need a strong military is for our fight against international terrorism, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently, more than half of our troops in Afghanistan are from European allies and other partners. And while nobody wants to stay in Afghanistan longer than necessary, early next year we will face a difficult dilemma: either stay and pay the price of a continued military engagement, or leave and risk that Afghanistan becomes once again a safe haven for international terrorists that can attack our homelands. Whatever we decide, it is important that we do it in an orderly and coordinated way.

We also need to use NATO even more as a platform for political consultations because this is the only place where North America and Europe meet every day to discuss, decide and act on our shared security. When we have differences, we must bring them to the NATO table and discuss them openly so that we can work out common approaches.

One recent example is the military deconfliction mechanism developed at NATO to avoid incidents and accidents in the Eastern Mediterranean between Greece and Turkey. I am committed to developing this mechanism further, not just because it can save lives but also because it can help to pave the way for political talks on the underlying issues.

And while NATO will remain a regional alliance, we must take a more global approach to deal with global challenges such as the rise of China. China is not our adversary. Its rise on the global stage brings opportunities, but it also presents challenges. China has the second biggest defense budget in the world and continues to modernize its military at a rapid pace. At the same time, it undermines human rights and bullies other countries.

We are working more closely with partners, notably in the Asia-Pacific region, because as a community of likeminded democracies, we have a common interest in defending our shared values, bolstering the resilience of our societies, economies and institutions, and upholding the rules-based order.

We are also bolstering the resilience of our critical infrastructure — power grids, ports, airports, roads, railways and telecommunication systems, including 5G. And NATO will continue to strengthen our resilience requirements, encouraging allies to conduct thorough risk and vulnerability assessments, including to map foreign ownership, control or direct investment.

These are all important considerations as we prepare for the 2021 NATO summit in Brussels, where I will present my strategic-level recommendations on how we keep the alliance fit for the future. One thing is certain: We can only be strong if North America and Europe stand united. So I look forward to working very closely with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and his administration to further strengthen our trans-Atlantic alliance and keep our nations safe in this unpredictable world.

Jens Stoltenberg is the secretary general of NATO.

NATO leaders will gather Dec. 3-4 in London, the very first home of NATO’s headquarters, at a critical time for our trans-Atlantic security. This is an opportunity to reflect on everything we have achieved over seven decades. In that time, allies in Europe and North America have built an unprecedented area of peace and prosperity. Our ironclad commitment to protect and defend one another guarantees freedom and democracy for our almost 1 billion citizens, making NATO the most successful alliance in history.

But beyond marking those 70 years, leaders will look to the challenges that still lie ahead. Today we face the greatest security threats in a generation — from a more assertive Russia to instability across the Middle East and North Africa, and from cyber and hybrid attacks to the ever-present terrorist threat. At the same time, the global balance of power is shifting around us. And the rapid development of new technology promises to transform our societies — and security — as radically as the first industrial revolution. So we must be ready to respond to any threat from any direction. And that is exactly what NATO is doing.

This essay is part of the Defense News 2020 Outlook project. Click here for more.

Since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO allies have implemented the largest reinforcement of our collective defense since the Cold War. We have strengthened our presence in the east of our alliance, from the Baltic to the Black Sea regions. And we have increased the size and readiness of our forces. This year we declared two new NATO commands operational: one in Ulm in Germany to improve military mobility in Europe, and one in Norfolk in the United States to ensure trans-Atlantic lines of communication. And we are delivering on our new NATO Readiness Initiative to field 30 air squadrons, 30 combat vessels and 30 land battalions within 30 days.

As well as guaranteeing our security today, NATO is preparing for the challenges of tomorrow on land, at sea, in the air, in cyberspace and in space. NATO recently updated the core standards for civilian telecommunications, including 5G, in order to improve the resilience of our networks. And this year allies adopted NATO’s first-ever overarching space policy.

Finally, all allies are stepping up their investment in our security, not only in cash but also with new capabilities and contributions to NATO missions and operations. European allies and Canada have increased defense spending for five years in a row. By the end of next year they will have added an extra $100 billion to their defense budgets since 2016. More allies are on track to meet their pledge to spend 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense by 2024. But we have to do more because our freedom does not come for free. And in a more unpredictable world, we need to continue to keep our citizens safe.

In London, NATO leaders will continue to strengthen our collective defense, modernize our alliance and invest in our shared security. And while NATO’s 70th anniversary gives us cause for celebration, this is not the time for complacency. We must never take the trans-Atlantic bond for granted. We must never take freedom and democracy for granted. We must defend them every day.

Jens Stoltenberg is NATO’s secretary general.

Next year will mark 70 years in which NATO has kept the peace in Europe.

NATO’s original purpose was as a defensive shield against the Soviet Union. The Cold War is over, but significant challenges remain.

Outlook 2019: World leaders and analysts speak on the state of global security and the defense industry

In recent years, we have witnessed an increasingly dangerous and unacceptable pattern of behavior from Russia: its military buildup and aggressive actions from the north of Europe to the Middle East, including a new intermediate-range missile, which calls into question its commitment to a key arms control treaty; its use of hybrid tactics including cyberattacks, disinformation and interference with the democratic processes of other countries; and its use of a deadly nerve agent in the United Kingdom, a first on NATO soil.

It also continues to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity with a conflict in the east of the country that has already cost more than 10,000 lives.

Unfortunately, there is no indication that Russia intends to change its behavior. Until it does, NATO will maintain its dual-track approach: strong deterrence and defense combined with our pursuit of meaningful dialogue.

At our summit in July, NATO leaders took the decisions needed to strengthen our deterrence and defense. They agreed a new readiness initiative, the Four Thirties — 30 mechanized battalions, 30 air squadrons and 30 combat vessels, ready to use within 30 days or less.

We are updating our command structure with a new command for the Atlantic and a new command for support and logistics. Both will help our forces become more mobile, ensuring we have the right forces in the right places at the right time, and at a higher state of readiness.

In response to Russia’s campaign of cyberattacks, we are ensuring that we are as strong in cyberspace as we are on land, at sea and in the air. Several allies have now offered their cyber capabilities to NATO, and allies work closely together to thwart cyberattacks.

NATO is a purely defensive alliance. Along with strong deterrence and defense, we remain open to dialogue with Russia. While we suspended all practical cooperation following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the NATO-Russia Council still meets to discuss issues such as the situation in Ukraine, transparency and risk reduction, and military activities.

But Russia is not the only challenge we face. The threat of international terrorism remains. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, NATO invoked our collective defense clause, Article 5, for the first and only time. This led to NATO’s largest operation in Afghanistan, where we remain to continue our support for peace and democracy.

We have since seen the rise of ISIS, or Daesh, in Iraq and Syria; and while it may be weakened, it still poses a threat. To help prevent ISIS from returning, we have launched a new training mission in Iraq to establish professional military schools for the Iraqi forces, employing the lessons we have learned from Afghanistan. We are also increasing our support for Jordan and Tunisia to further strengthen their ability to combat terrorism. And we stand ready to support Libya.

Increasing our response to a more challenging security environment does not come for free, and allies continue to spend more on defense. This year will be the fourth consecutive year of rising defense spending. In 2018, European allies and Canada boosted their combined budgets by over 5 percent of gross domestic product, the biggest increase in real terms in a quarter of a century. Over the past two years, that means a cumulative $41 billion more spent on defense.

There is still a long way to go, but we are headed in the right direction, with every nation now committed to increasing their defense spending and to developing credible national plans on how they will get to 2 percent of GDP. This is also about our credibility.

By standing together, NATO allies have ensured the security of the trans-Atlantic area for seven decades. Today we face a range of complex and diverse challenges, but by continuing to stand together, by taking the decisions necessary to strengthen our defense and by investing more in our own security, NATO will continue to keep us safe for many decades to come.

Jens Stoltenberg is the secretary general of NATO.

For nearly 70 years, NATO has helped keep the peace in Europe by investing in defense and deterrence.

Outlook 2018: Perspectives from global thought leaders

Boosting allied defense investment has been one of my top priorities since becoming secretary general in 2014. That year, NATO allies agreed at our Wales Summit to stop the cuts, gradually increase defense spending and move toward spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. In 2017, we estimate a real defense spending increase of 4.3 percent in Europe and Canada — a third straight year of accelerating increases. This translates into an additional $46 billion in spending over the past three years. Along with five other allies, Romania has announced the intention to reach 2 percent in 2017, and Latvia and Lithuania have indicated they will do the same in 2018.

So while we still have a long way to go, we are going into the right direction.

Early next year, allies will report on their specific defense investment plans, covering three main areas: cash, capabilities and contributions. In other words, how they will meet their commitment to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense; how they will invest additional funding in key military capabilities; and how they will contribute to NATO missions and operations.

This increased investment in defense will set the scene for our summit in Brussels next July, where we will have the opportunity to review the progress we have made in implementing the most substantial increase in our collective defense in a generation. We are already working on several key areas where NATO must continue to adapt. We will also decide on the next steps to respond to evolving security threats.

First, we will finalize plans to update our military command structure — the backbone of our alliance. A robust and agile command structure underpins both our strengthened deterrence and defense posture as well as our ability to project stability beyond NATO’s borders. One new element we envisage is the creation of a new cyber operations center to strengthen our cyber defenses and integrate cyber capabilities into NATO planning and operations at all levels. A new command for the Atlantic is planned to ensure sea lanes of communication between Europe and North America remain open and secure — so crucial for transatlantic coordination and mutual defense. We also plan to create a new command focused on military mobility — to speed up the movement of military forces and equipment within Europe.

Military mobility is key to effective and credible collective defense. NATO has been working on this for several years to remove legal hindrances to crossing borders. But we also need to address infrastructure requirements — military-grade roads, bridges, railroads, tunnels, ports and airfields — and optimum means of transportation. This requires close cooperation with national governments and with the European Union. I expect military mobility to become a flagship achievement for enhanced NATO-EU cooperation.

Meanwhile, the EU’s role in European defense is set to increase. I welcome the launch of the Permanent Structured Cooperation, in which 23 EU member states agreed to cooperate on defense and security policy. This has the potential to help drive increased defense spending, provide new capabilities and improve burden-sharing within the alliance. But we need to keep in mind three points to ensure that NATO and EU defense efforts are complementary.

First, we need coherence when it comes to development of capabilities. We must avoid the same nations having two sets of requirements for the kind of capabilities they should develop. Second, we need to be sure that European forces and capabilities are also available to NATO to avoid competition. And third, we need the fullest possible involvement of non-EU NATO allies in the consultations and in the process. This is critical because, after Brexit, 80 percent of NATO defense spending will come from non-EU allies, and three of the NATO battlegroups deployed to Eastern Europe will be led by non-EU allies.

NATO and the EU have achieved a great deal since signing our joint declaration on NATO-EU cooperation at the Warsaw Summit. We are already implementing a wide range of measures across many areas, including maritime, exercises, defense industry and research, defense capabilities, and hybrid and cyber defense measures. In 2018, we will continue to explore what more we can do together, in particular to support the fight against terrorism.

On the ground, NATO is ramping up its efforts to provide training and assistance to Iraq in multiple areas, including counter-improvised explosive devices and demining, military medicine, and reform of the country’s security institutions. In 2017, we launched an in-country training initiative, deploying a team to Baghdad to facilitate NATO’s training and capacity-building programs to support Iraq’s fight against terrorism and instability. This effort will grow in 2018.

Our mission in Afghanistan remains NATO’s largest. And we have agreed to increase its size from around 13,000 to 16,000 in the coming months. Our troops are there to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces, to help them fight international terrorism, including ISIL, and to stabilize their own country. Our decades of experience, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, have taught us that one of our best weapons in the generational fight against terrorism is training local forces and building the capacity of local institutions. And this will remain a focus for us in the next year.

NATO is the most successful alliance in history because it has adapted as the world has changed. As we continue to adapt in 2018, NATO allies are committed to spending more and better on defense, improving burden-sharing among allies, strengthening our transatlantic bond and preserving the peace for future generations.

Jens Stoltenberg is the secretary general of NATO.

In the spring, four multinational battalions will deploy to Poland and the Baltic States. These will be led by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany. NATO will also have a strengthened presence in the Black Sea region, with a Romanian-led multinational brigade. Together, and supported by reinforcements and national forces, they will present a strong signal to any potential aggressor: that an attack on any ally will be met by a response from all allies. At the same time, we are keeping open channels of political dialogue with Russia, because dialogue is even more important in times of tension.

Outlook 2017: Perspectives from global thought leaders

In the south, NATO is supporting its partners to project stability in the region. NATO has already trained hundreds of Iraqi officers to better fight the Islamic State group. This program will be significantly expanded in the new year. Every ally is already a part the US-led mission to counter ISIS, and NATO AWACS surveillance aircraft are now providing vital support for the coalition’s air campaign.

Close cooperation between NATO and the European Union is also vital for our security. In Warsaw, I signed a joint declaration with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, which committed both organizations to a new level of cooperation. This year, we will increase our partnership with the EU in areas such as countering hybrid warfare, cyber defense, exercises and supporting the defense industry.

NATO and the EU are already working together in the Aegean Sea to cut the lines of illegal migration. Sea Guardian, NATO’s new maritime operation in the Mediterranean Sea, is engaged in surveillance, counterterrorism and capacity-building for our partners in the region. It will also share information with the EU’s Operation Sophia and provide it with logistical support. By combining our different skills and strengths, NATO and the EU are a formidable force for good.

Strengthening our defense and promoting stability does not come for free. US President Barack Obama, US President-elect Donald Trump, and every federal senator and congressman I have met on Capitol Hill have rightly called on European allies to take a more equitable share of the burden. Delivering on higher defense spending has been one of my top priorities since I took office in 2014. And when I spoke to Trump, I stressed that we have now started to move in the right direction.

In 2014, every NATO ally pledged to increase defense spending to 2 percent of gross domestic product over a decade. In 2015, defense cuts in European allies and Canada stopped. And this year, we expect their defense spending will increase in real terms by 3 percent.

But we still have a long way to go. If all European allies and Canada were to meet the 2 percent spending target, that would mean an extra 100 billion dollars — roughly the combined defense spending of Europe’s two largest defense spenders, the United Kingdom and France, every year.

NATO has responded to the new security environment with determination. I look forward to welcoming Trump for our next summit in Brussels this year to discuss how NATO must continue to adapt.

In uncertain times, we need strong American leadership, and we need Europeans to share their fair share of the burden. Above all, we need to recognize the value of the partnership between America and Europe on which NATO is founded.

Jens Stoltenberg has served as the NATO secretary general since 2014. Before that, he was the prime minister of Norway. Under his leadership, the country’s defense spending increased, and today Norway is one of the NATO members with the highest per capita defense expenditure.

A few years ago it was cyber-attacks on financial institutions that made the headlines. Today, it is attacks on critical networks and infrastructures – disrupting services and, in some cases, bringing modern life to a grinding halt. In fact, what was once a nuisance has become a strategic challenge.

Two years ago, a cyber-attack temporarily blocked access to NATO headquarters’ website. Recently, a series of cyber-attacks was launched against German state computer systems, including to gather intelligence on critical infrastructure such as power plants. And in Ukraine, cyber-attacks have been used as a weapon of so-called “hybrid” warfare.

States and non-state actors are increasingly using cyber-attacks to achieve their diplomatic and military objectives. So two years ago, NATO allies acknowledged that the impact of cyber-attacks could be as harmful to our societies as a conventional attack and made clear that cyber defense is part of the alliance’s core task of collective defense.

Cyber-attacks can also seriously undermine NATO’s missions around the world. Our forces are increasingly likely to operate in environments where adversaries use cyber-tools to disrupt our decision-making. To ensure that NATO can do its job of protecting its citizens and territory against any threats, we have to be just as effective in the cyber domain as we already are on land, in the air and at sea.

Faced with this developing threat, NATO has not sat idle. We have worked hard to bolster our own networks and to help allies strengthen their cyber-defenses. We have extended the protection we provide centrally to new networks, such as the chain of new small headquarters we have established in the east of the alliance.

We have also improved our ability to detect and analyse threats – and are doing everything we can to facilitate the exchange of information. Our Cyber Threat Assessment Cell uses information gathered both by individual allies and the alliance itself, and we share real-time information through a dedicated “Malware Information-Sharing Platform.”

NATO’s cyber Rapid Reaction Teams are up and running with highly skilled experts and cutting-edge technology to support our nations in case of a serious cyber-attack. Our investments in training and education – including NATO’s state-of-the-art annual exercise “Cyber Coalition” – help to make sure that our skills keep pace with technology. At the same time, we are deepening our cyber defence partnerships – in particular with the European Union – and intensifying our cooperation with industry and academia, especially when it comes to information-sharing and the exchange of best practices.

So, NATO has achieved a great deal in tackling cyber-attacks – but we know that we need to do more. Cyber threats do not respect borders, and no country is invulnerable. That is why at the Summit in Warsaw, allies will make a Cyber Defence Pledge – to strengthen our cyber defenses as a matter of priority. Strong and resilient cyber defenses are key if the alliance is to fulfil its core purpose. We need to ensure we are prepared for the future and that we are truly cyber-secure.

In Warsaw, we will also recognize cyberspace as an operational domain, alongside air, land and sea, as a number of allies have already done. This will improve NATO’s ability to protect and conduct operations across these domains. It will help us to manage our resources, skills and capabilities, and to ensure that cyber defense is better reflected in our military exercises, in our training and in the way we respond to crises. Ultimately, in cyberspace, like in the other domains, NATO relies on allies to provide capabilities for its missions.

For all that NATO is doing to adapt to a changing world, one thing will never change: we are a defensive alliance, whose mission is to protect NATO’s citizens and territory, and whose actions will always be proportionate and in strict accordance with international law. That, in turn, means that we strongly support efforts to foster a more transparent and secure cyberspace, through the development of voluntary norms of behavior by individual states and related confidence-building measures.

NATO is founded on the shared values of liberty, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. That is why we are determined to ensure that cyberspace remains the place for peaceful, open communication and debate that we all need it to be.

Jens Stoltenberg is the secretary general of NATO.