Connections

The Fall 2016 issue of Connections is dedicated to the NATO Summit that took place in Warsaw, Poland in July 2016. During the Summit, heads of state and government of allied and partner countries discussed key security challenges. This journal issue takes a deep look into two key themes - assuring the security of the Alliance in view of the hybrid threat from the East and the threats of international terrorism, in particular those generated by the rise of the 'Islamic State.' In view of the former, Connections presents original articles exploring the novelty of Russian hybrid apoproaches, the need for strategic adaptation of the Alliance on its Eastern flank, the role nuclear deterrence continues to play in the process, and the need and modalities of more effective interaction and cooperation between NATO and the European Union. The second theme is covered by a contribution extracting lessons from failures in intervention and containing sectarian conflicts, and a treatment of the particular place of art theft in sustaining terrorist organizations.