PRESS

tion that remains both open and in need of answering
sooner rather than later. 8
TRANSFORMING LAND FORCES
The major challenge NATO member states face
is to translate current security requirements into real
operational capabilities. 9 Threats such as international
terrorism and failed states have emerged alongside
the more traditional threats posed by interstate tensions—a
problem set that has reemerged with the
Russian invasion of Ukraine.
To meet this complex set of security problems,
since the end of the Cold War, NATO and its member
states have made extraordinary efforts to transform
their command and force structures, even in the face
of declining budgets. Among the European NATO
members, land forces have a number of common
features:
• With few exceptions, conscription armies have
been superseded by wholly professional forces.
• The “heavy” equipment for land forces of
the Cold War period (for example, tanks and
ground-based artillery) geared to an East-West
conflict has given way to a new generation of
high-tech equipment based on the principles of
network-centric warfare.
• Command structures have been radically
changed with the advent of standing multinational
commands.
• New doctrines highlight the crucial role land
forces play in stabilization operations and need
to take a comprehensive approach involving
political, military, and civilian assets when
managing an armed intervention. 10
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