On October 8-9 General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania hosted a workshop on "Russia’s New Generation Warfare: Implications for the Baltic States and Poland" organised by The Potomac Foundation, a U.S. research centre.
The event was attended by over half a hundred of experts of military science, representatives of academic community, NATO, Ukraine and Lithuania. Among the speakers there were Prof Benediktas Juodka, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, Colonel Saulius Guzevičius, Head of the Strategic Communication Department of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Diego Ruiz-Palmer representing NATO Headquarters, and others.
Announcements and discussions focused on the military threat Russia posed to Central and Eastern Europe seeking to find ways to meet the challenges at minimal costs. Representatives of The Potomac Foundation gave a thorough and exhaustive military and political overview of the current situation in Ukraine and offered a conclusion that a weightier U.S. role was necessary in finding the solution to the conflict.
While addressing non-kinetic threats experts pointed out the importance of social education and development of moral values to sustain a strong spirit of resistance. The scope of Russian propaganda and its target audiences in the Baltic states were also in the focus and giving adequate attention to ethnic minorities was proposed as a possible solution.
At tactical level, experts of military science addressed challenges of asymmetric warfare, features of electronic warfare, and nuclear scenarios. NATO as a whole was offered to focus on coherently developing and implementing its measures of deterrence rather then on reacting to Russian challenges.
NATO representatives highlighted the necessity to remain solidary and unified, to improve the decision-making process together, and to fulfil the commitment to allot 2 % of GDP for defence.
Vice Minister of National Defence Marijus Velička underscored in his closing remarks the importance of developing an adequate view on Russia’s policy and wished success in not getting lost in the battlefield of misleading information. He also expressed a hope that an event of such format could become a tradition annually pulling together experts of various areas.
The workshop was co-organised by The Potomac Foundation and the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania.
The Potomac Foundation is an independent non-profit organisation established in the United States of America in 1988 to bring in scientifically based and rational argument into public discourse and to contribute to the formation of security policy trends. The centre has earned positive assessment of politics and military and is working in close cooperation with U.S. Congress. The Potomac Foundation provides commentary on international media subjects, presents analytical research and scientific publications.
Over its 25 years of existence the centre has held over a thousand meetings and training sessions attended by Central and Eastern European experts of various areas, and is an organiser of various conferences.
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