On June 27, the Scowcroft Center’s Transatlantic Security Initiative hosted a public discussion on “Baltic Porcupine: Harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution to Defend the Baltic States.” The event launched the Scowcroft Center’s latest issue brief, “The Melians’ Revenge: How Small, Frontline, European States Can Employ Emerging Technology to Defend Against Russia” by Dr. TX Hammes. Russia’s military modernization and aggressive behavior continues to threaten the security of NATO’s frontline allies: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Russia’s proximity to these states and their distance from other NATO Allies means that if a crisis were to erupt with little warning NATO reinforcements may not be able to arrive quickly enough to stop a rapid Russian advance. At the same time, the Baltic states’ small size and relatively small budgets limit the level of defense investments they can make.In his keynote remarks, Dr. Hammes advocated for a novel approach to  defense investment in the Baltic states, harnessing emerging technologies such as small drones, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence to improve deterrence on the Alliance’s eastern flank at a low cost. Deploying these and other technologies would, Dr. Hammes argued, create a “porcupine” defense that would make the Baltic states “unappetizing” to the Russian bear.