Strategy & Defense 

Strategy, military security, and classic defense threats are still at the heart of current international relations. In this program, we will focus on military technology, trends in armaments and technology, modern strategic thinking, geopolitics, and armed conflicts.

Military Affairs Strategic Thinking

Billion-dollar question: how to get enough drones that we need today – and tomorrow?

Drone technology introduced multiple new challenges in regard to security, warfare as well as industry. Policy-makers, military strategists and industrialists...

Military Affairs

Ground Drones in the conflict in Ukraine and the EU: another revolution in warfare?

The skies over Ukraine have, for years, been characterised by the buzzing of drones. However, lately, increased use of a...

Military Affairs

Dragoons of Ukraine – Motorcycle units in the war in Ukraine

In 2024, a new trend emerged on the battlefield involving the use of motorcycles for various purposes, including offensive operations....

Military Affairs

Ukraine striking Russian oil infrastructure – a significant problem for Russia?

Since the beginning of 2026, Ukraine has been pursuing a strategy of frequent attacks using long-range drones targeting the heart...

Military Affairs

The Ukrainian counteroffensive is proving successful – does this indicate a new dynamic on the front?

On the Ukrainian front, constant monitoring of the battlefield, most often using reconnaissance drones, leaves little room for surprise actions...

Military Affairs

Future of the Russian tank forces

Since the end of the Cold War, Russia’s military has undergone several reforms, altering how tanks are employed and funding...

Military Affairs

War in Ukraine: What will define the year 2026?

As the world looks to the battlefields of Ukraine in early 2026, it is clear that the conflict has entered...

Military Affairs

Adapting to Drone Warfare: Challenges of Integrated Defence on Europe’s Eastern Borders

The systemic vulnerabilities exposed by repeated drone incursions across European airspace have triggered a fundamental reassessment of European security thinking....

Military Affairs Strategic Thinking Technology and Innovations

The Future of Drones: Strategic interregnum

Drones are rapidly reshaping the global security environment, altering the character of warfare, defence planning, and strategic competition. As technological...

Military Affairs

Implementation of Swarm Tactics in the People’s Liberation Army

Technologically advanced countries had already been engaged in the development and application of drone technology for a longer period. This...

Military Affairs

The Drone Threat Outside Open War

Drones have become one of the most widely used tools in contemporary armed conflicts. While they are often associated with...

Military Affairs Strategic Thinking Technology and Innovations

Drone Futures: Road to 2040. Foresight from Central Europe

Drones are reshaping global industries, security, and public services— and Central Europe is no exception. This foresight study looks ahead...

Military Affairs

From Tehran to Alabuga: The Evolution of Shahed Drones into Russia’s Strategic Asset

Iranian drones were developed within the framework of Tehran’s asymmetric strategy, aiming to counter regional adversaries and mitigate Western military...

Military Affairs

Drone Centre Rubikon – The proof of the Russian army’s adaptability

Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, we have witnessed many innovations in the usage of drones...

Geopolitics Global Agenda

The Arctic Mirage: Rethinking the Russia-China Cooperation

Author: Simona NikoléniováExpert Supervisor: Richard Turcsányi, Program Director at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS)Published by Adapt Institute...

Military Affairs Technology and Innovations

Slovakia’s Helicopter Dilemma: What Should the Slovak Armed Forces Do in the Future?

Author: Róbert BednárPublished by Adapt Institute as part of the Security Academy Program, supported by NATO and the British Embassy...

Geopolitics Global Agenda

Growing Importance of the Arctic: Why Slovakia Should Pay Attention

Author: Peter LitvínExpert Supervisor: CDR Rachael Gosnell, Military Professor of Strategic Security Studies, George C. Marshall European Center for Security...

Strategic Thinking Strategy & Defence

The Role of Strategic Foresight in Governance

Author: Ľuboslava HankovskáExpert Supervisor: Imrich Marton, Adapt Institute Associate Partner & Founder of Facta Pro FuturaPublished by Adapt Institute as...

Strategic Thinking Strategy & Defence

Could an Istanbul Deal Have Brought Peace?

The experience of the post-Soviet republics with security-related agreements with Moscow is such that the 2022 Russian-Ukrainian talks had little...

Geopolitics Military Affairs Strategy & Defence

Usage of Drones in the War in Ukraine

Drones, or UAVs, were often considered weapons of the future. Before the two world wars in the 20th century, the...

Geopolitics

Quo Vadis, Kosovo?

As Kosovo embarks on its 16th year of independence, it faces a critical juncture characterised by a challenging journey filled...

Geopolitics Non-Military Security

Securing the North: NATO’s Response to Russian and Chinese Arctic Ambitions

Current trends in Arctic ice melt carry profound implications not only for the planet’s climate but also for the stability...

Military Affairs Technology and Innovations

Slovak Defence Industry Up To 2030: Navigating Through New Reality Towards Rebirth

Over the past months, Adapt Institute analysts have been working on the preparation of a research study aimed at identifying...

Geopolitics Military Affairs

Navigating XXI Century Geopolitical Shifts: Challenges and Opportunities in the Defence Sectors of Germany and Poland

Read the Long Read via the link: NAVIGATING XXI CENTURY GEOPOLITICAL SHIFTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE DEFENCE SECTORS OF...

Global Agenda Military Affairs Strategic Thinking

NATO Public Forum 2023

On 11-12 July 2023, NATO’s Heads of State and Government will meet in Vilnius Lithuania, at the NATO Summit, to...

Geopolitics Military Affairs

Andreas Umland: Four Challenges Facing a Ukrainian-Russian Truce. Part III: The Crimean Conundrum

Executive Summary There is currently an intense debate about scenarios for ending, or at least freezing, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine....

Geopolitics Non-Military Security Technology and Innovations

Will the Switch to Renewable Energy Provide Fewer Instances For States to Use It as a Tool of Geopolitical Influence

Read the Long Read via link: Will the Switch to Renewable Energy Provide Fewer Instances For States to Use It...

Strategic Thinking

Andreas Umland: Four Challenges Facing a Ukrainian-Russian Truce. Part II: Domestic Hindrances for a Russian-Ukrainian Truce

Picture credit: designed by artist Boris Groh/Ukraine Postal Service Summary There is intense public debate over when and how to...

Military Affairs Technology and Innovations

Defence Procurement: When Political Will Needs Pairing With Legislative Changes

Download the Long read via link: Defence Procurement: When Political Will Needs Pairing With Legislative Changes – Viliam Ostatník Don't...

Geopolitics Strategic Thinking

Moscow’s Red Lines, Nuclear Threat, and Restraint

Red lines and nukes Whenever the Ukrainian armed forces achieved something vis-à-vis their Russian foe, and occasionally even without immediate...

Military Affairs Strategic Thinking Technology and Innovations

Non-nuclear Strategic Deterrence and pre-emptive approaches of Strategy. Poland and the Future of Deterrence by Denial. New A2/AD?

Download the Long read via link: Non-nuclear Strategic Deterrence and pre-emptive approaches of Strategy. Poland and the Future of Deterrence...

Geopolitics Military Affairs

Andreas Umland: Four Challenges Facing a Ukrainian-Russian Truce. Part I: The Constitutional Impasse

Executive Summary The already heated discussion among policymakers and policy shapers in the West on how the Russian-Ukrainian war could...

Geopolitics Global Agenda Strategic Thinking

Andreas Umland: How the West Can Help Ukraine: Three Strategies for Achieving a Ukrainian Victory and Rebirth

Executive Summary The geopolitical salience of the Russia–Ukraine War and the remoteness of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union or...

Military Affairs Non-Military Security

Report: StratCom for Supporting NATO Multinational Battlegroup in Slovakia

The NATO Multinational Battlegroup (NATO MN BG) has been present in Slovakia since April 2022 in response to the unprecedented...

Military Affairs Strategic Thinking

Transatlantic peace comes from within

Russia’s blatant and excessive use of force to achieve its foreign policy goals marked the crossing of the Rubicon. Russia’s...

Military Affairs Strategic Thinking

The NATO 2022 Strategic Concept Implications for the Baltics: Correcting the course, but still missing the point

The text discusses the most significant impacts of the NATO 2022 Madrid Summit from the perspective of expectations, ambitions and...

Military Affairs Strategic Thinking

NATO, the EU and the Growing Instability in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Challenges and Risks

Ethnic and political tensions within Bosnia and Herzegovina represent potential roots for a more serious conflict in the Western Balkans....

Global Agenda Strategic Thinking

EU ́s Strategic Compass and its Implications: What is the Future of European Strategic Sovereignty?

The Strategic Compass represents a major political proposal to prevent the risk of “strategic shrinkage”. Strategic shrinkage refers to three...

Geopolitics Military Affairs

Visegrad Insight – What Will Come from This Year’s NATO Summit?

Original source Visegrad Insight: The Madrid NATO summit will set NATO’s strategic direction for the next decade and beyond, while...