Spotlight: Defence & Security
Projecting stability to the south: the role of NATO Strategic Direction-South Hub
Projecting stability to the south: the role of NATO Strategic Direction-South Hub
Defence & Security
In 2016, at the Warsaw Summit, NATO adopted a new approach defined as "360°", which looks at threats from all sides and ensures a targeted and tailored response. Part of the renewed and strengthened commitment to the southern front is the creation, in February 2017, of the NATO Strategic Direction South Hub, a center dedicated to the monitoring of security dynamics in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Over the last years, the threats to the security of the Euro-Atlantic space have multiplied, both in terms of the type and character of the threat and in terms of their geographical origin. In fact, by the political and security instability that, since 2011, has characterized some areas of the Mediterranean Sea, NATO has embarked on a path aimed at understanding, analyzing and responding to the risks and threats coming from the so-called “southern flank”. Against this backdrop, in 2017, the NATO Strategic Direction-South Hub became operational in Naples. Its objective is to study and understand the geopolitical and security trajectories of the Mediterranean region, with an expanded look at Africa and the Middle East.

The project “PROJECTING STABILITY TO THE SOUTH: THE ROLE OF NATO STRATEGIC DIRECTION-SOUTH HUB”, carried out in cooperation with NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, consists of two phases. The first phase is the organization of a conference aimed at promoting a better understanding of NATO’s strategy towards the southern flank and increasing awareness of the role and activities of the NATO Strategic Direction-South Hub. The second phase foresees the drafting of a short report including a brief analysis of the security challenges in the southern flank and possible future scenarios, an overview of the main outcomes of the conference, and CeSI recommendations on the way forward for NATO.