Reappraising Global Security: 10 key recommendations

The EU and NATO should boost the participation of women in military operations and review their security strategies with new approaches to strategic communications, according to the 2015 Security Jam report.

Breedlove was speaking at a Friends of Europe Policy Insight presenting the report, the outcome of the 2014 Security Jam – an internet-based brainstorming session with almost 2,300 participants from 129 countries. The Jam was held amid growing insecurity over Russia’s confrontation with the West over Ukraine and the threat posed by the so-called Islamic State. The Jam’s 10 recommendations reflected the new techniques being used in these conflicts, and included calls for new efforts to absorb asymmetric threats and for universities to work on cyber security.

Breedlove said strategic communications are often slowed by the need for approval by governments, who want to be sure they understand what is being said before replying to false narratives.

The EU has in the past been criticised for taking time to gather consensus among its members and for a seeming lack of connection between different policy areas. Now it is trying to coordinate better its different external affairs activities – such as trade, development and humanitarian relief – so that they form a coherent whole.

It is also planning to revise its security strategy, which dates back to 2003. The External Action Service wants to get a mandate for a new strategy from the European Council in June, so that it could be drawn up by the end of 2015 or early 2016.