Promoting NATO values and the value of NATO
ATA UK aims to raise awareness and understanding of the benefits and obligations of the UK’s membership of NATO. It provides education programmes, analysis and comment on international security issues in an era of strategic competition.
Latest Post
Turning the Tables in the Drone War
Russia’s Iranian-built drones came close to crippling Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure, and they are still causing major headaches for Ukraine’s citizens and armed forces. Air defence systems provided by Ukraine’s supporters are proving effective, but they need precious personnel and resources that could otherwise be used elsewhere. Supplying equivalent drone capabilities to Ukraine would give it a highly cost-effective way to further disrupt and stretch Russian forces.
Read the full article here
NATO grant for “Promoting NATO to Youth” project
Following ATA UK’s successful “Promoting NATO Across Communities” project last year, NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division has awarded a grant to ATA UK’s parent organization – Resilient Futures – for a follow-on project for 2023.
“Promoting NATO Across Communities” included seven outreach events involving some 250 students in two six-form colleges in Leicester – Gateway College and Wyggeston Queen EIizabeth I College. The new “Promoting NATO to Youth” programme will allow similar events to take place not only in Leicester but elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
The introductory session provides an overview of NATO whilst the second part aims to heighten students’ awareness of hostile disinformation efforts and show how these are intended to erode cohesion in democratic societies and undermine confidence in liberal values and institutions. The sessions also look at disinformation in the context of the “myths and realities” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, contrasting NATO’s actual role with that presented by President Putin.
The introductory session provides an overview of NATO whilst the second part aims to heighten students’ awareness of hostile disinformation efforts. These campaigns are intended to erode cohesion in democratic societies and undermine confidence in liberal values and institutions. The sessions also look at disinformation in the context of the “myths and realities” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, contrasting NATO’s actual role with that presented by President Putin.
Teacher Feedback
“As Nelson Mandela said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world’. The NATO seminars led by the ATA UK were so incredibly valuable to our Politics students. Giving the students the opportunity to have a dialogue about NATO provided students with a level of knowledge and understanding that a textbook and PowerPoint are unable to compete with.”
“The presenters were open to challenging questions and students had the opportunity to get a different perspective of NATO. A brilliant educational experience, which was very well organised. We would definitely want to do this again in the future.”
“This was a great opportunity to allow students to discover more information about NATO and the work which they do. It was an opportunity to expose students to new information, which can only help them. Students left the session with more information and a much better understanding. It has opened up wider discussion on conflict, which has led to helpful discussion and dialogue between students and tutors”
The two colleges involved in the original project have already requested similar engagement events for new cohorts of students, as well as further events on disinformation for students who participated in previous events. Other colleges have also expressed an interest in the project which will boost critical thinking and analytical skills.
So far students undertaking Uniformed Public Services, Politics and History courses have enjoyed the packages but the transferable life skills involved mean that students reading any subject can benefit.
Henry Strickland, Executive Director of Resilient Futures said, “The project developed by David Hobbs and Riaz Ravat explains the benefits and obligations of the United Kingdom’s membership of NATO and stresses that NATO is an Alliance bound together by shared values. These values correlate perfectly with those which British schools and colleges promote on a daily basis”.
Mr. Strickland added, “We have been extremely gratified by the responses of staff and students to our outreach programmes. We are delighted that, as a result of the grant from NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, the “Promoting NATO to Youth” project will run throughout 2023. We encourage schools and colleges throughout the UK to get in touch”.
Student Feedback
“Very enjoyable and informative”
“Learning more about NATO than what you hear on the news”
“It was great to know more about NATO. I knew the name, but not what they did. Now I know much more”
“I was fascinated to find out more information and get a better understanding of the role NATO plays in the world. I even went back home and discussed it with my parents, sharing some of the information I learnt in the session with them”
“The event was greatly helpful to my understanding of NATO and the connections and obligations it has”
“My knowledge of NATO has definitely increased”
Activities and News
Following ATA UK’s successful “Promoting NATO Across Communities” project last year, NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division has awarded a grant to ATA UK’s parent organization – Resilient Futures – for a follow-on project for 2023. “Promoting NATO...
On 30 November 2022, David Hobbs appeared on a panel at the European Defence Sharing Conference in Budapest. This conference was arranged by the Danube Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and Pepperdine School of Public Diplomacy, and the...
On 17 November 2022, the University of Durham’s Student Union invited an expert panel to talk about the war in Ukraine. The speakers were: Mary Dejevsky, an Independent columnist on foreign affairs and an authority on Russian politics and diplomatic...
NATO Senior Communicators Conference ATA UK was among the many ATA national chapters with representatives at NATO’s Senior Communicators Conference in Brussels in November 2022. (Some of the ATA representatives appear in the featured...
ATA UK among partners in the 2022 Oxford Summer Programme on International Affairs ATA UK was pleased to be one of the partners in the Oxford Diplomacy and Geopolitics Forum’s “Oxford Summer Programme on International Affairs”. This Programme brought...
ATA UK’s “NATO across Communities” project launched in Leicester On 30 June 2022, just as NATO’s Madrid Summit was drawing to a close, ATA UK launched an exciting new project titled ‘NATO Across Communities’. The outreach...
On Friday 17 June, as NATO’s Madrid Summit approached, the Francisco University of Vitoria Madrid’s “Global Common Good Center” held an international seminar entitled “NATO after the War in Ukraine: the Future of Euro-Atlantic Security”. The...
Hybrid threats have become a fact of life that nations must learn to recognize and attempt to counter. On 11 February 2022, less than two weeks before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, ATA UK held a webinar with Oleksandr Danylyuk on detecting...
On 27 September 2021, ATA UK co-hosted an “ATA Talks” events where General Sir Nick Carter, then Chief of the UK Defence Staff, examined the key features of today’s international security environment and how to address the...
Posts
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
Working out how to provide long-term military assistance to Ukraine. will also help NATO to provide a much-need boost to the sustainability of its own armed forces...
After Ukraine’s advances in the Kharkiv region in mid-September, what once seemed a remote prospect – the operational defeat of Russia’s forces in Ukraine – is looking increasingly plausible. But President Putin will seek to avoid that...
President Putin knows perfectly well that NATO poses no military threat to Russia. But it is not a military threat that he fears. Finland and Sweden’s decisions to join NATO show just how severely President Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has backfired...
Having painted himself into a corner and with wounded pride, what will a detached and deluded President Putin do when Finland and Sweden apply to join NATO?...
There is every reason to condemn President Putin's invasion of Ukraine, but don't inadvertently play into his own twisted narrative...
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marks the beginning of the end for the Putin regime. It also marks the end of the beginning of a new era in geo-strategy and how the world’s democracies respond to threats from aggressive autocracies. For President Putin...
President Putin's grasp of history is not as great as he would have us believe. And there are some historical lessons that he ignores at his peril...
Russia tries to ignore that Russia itself – as well as the United Kingdom and the United States – signed an agreement to respect Ukraine’s borders, not threaten or use force against Ukraine, and refrain from using economic coercion against Ukraine...
Perspectives and Explainers
The messy end to NATO’s engagement in Afghanistan underlines the need to press ahead with plans to adapt to the new era of strategic competition so that NATO remains as the central hub for defence and security cooperation among the Allies. The...
As international forces leave Afghanistan, what does the future hold for this troubled state that has endured decades of internal conflict?
This paper provides the perspectives of two analysts in neighbouring Pakistan who explore the imminent...
In a new era of strategic competition, with economic might as a major instrument of power, NATO must adapt if it is to remain as the central component of its members’ security. The key to doing that – to “future proofing” the Alliance - is hiding in...
On 16 March 2021, the government published “Global Britain in a Competitive Age”, the centrepiece of its long-awaited Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development, and Foreign Policy It presents a “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-society”...
Germany’s direct contribution to NATO now equals that of the United States. What does that mean and is there a lesson there for the UK? Starting this year, Germany and the United States are both contributing the same amount to NATO’s budget. Yet...
The information revolution and the rise of social media make open societies particularly vulnerable to disinformation campaigns. This “explainer” looks at this all-pervasive aspect of conflict in the “grey zone”. “The supreme art of war...
The government will soon publish its “Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development, and Foreign Policy”. This “explainer” looks at what the Integrated Review is about. The House of Commons Library has produced this...
If you are interested in having ATA UK provide a briefing on NATO in your school or college, contact us using the form below.