On May 9, the Atlantic Council hosted a scenario-based decision game centered on collective deterrence and defense in the Baltic Sea Region. The tabletop exercise gathered thought leaders, regional experts, policymakers, and current and former officials to explore defense challenges in the region. Conducted in close partnership with the Swedish Ministry of Defense, this game aimed at assessing the range of issues confronting senior decision-makers in the context of an array of plausible regional crisis scenarios.

In light of the upcoming NATO Warsaw Summit in early July, this game informed strategy and policy decisions linked to European collective defense and deterrence. The exercise also explored many aspects of the US-Swedish defense relationship, which is increasingly important given the region’s complex and dynamic security environment and the challenges to NATO’s and NATO-partners’ capabilities, capacities, and resolve.