Heading Forward:NATO Strategy After the London Leaders Meeting

The North Atlantic Council met in London from 3-4 December 2019 to celebrate NATO's 70th anniversary.
Details of the defence plans agreed may be classified, or not yet completed,but the outlines have been presented in the concluding statement by the North Atlantic Council and the closing press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Here are some interesting points from the statement:
As an Alliance,NATO faces distinct threats and challenges emanating from all strategic directions:
Russia's aggressive actions constitute a threat to Euro-Atlantic security;
Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations remains a persistent threat to us all;
State and non-state actors challenge the rules-based international order;
Instability beyond our borders is also contributing to irregular migration;
We face cyber and hybrid threats.*
We have taken decisions to respond to any threat,at any time, from any direction.*
We stand firm in our commitment to the fight against terrorism and are taking stronger action to defeat it.We are addressing and will continue to address in a measured and responsible way Russia's deployment of new intermediate-range missiles, which brought about the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and which pose significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security.We are increasing action to protect our freedom at sea and in the air.We are further strengthening our ability to deter and defend with an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional, and missile defence capabilities, which we continue to adapt.*
As long as nuclear weapons exist,NATO will remain a nuclear alliance. We remain open to a constructive relationship with Russia when Russia's actions make that possible.*
North Macedonia was represented in London and will soon be our newest and 30th ally, demonstrating NATO's open door policy.*
We will continue to increase the resilience of our societies,as well as of our critical infrastructure and our energy security.*
NATO and Allies, within their respective authority, are committed to ensuring the security of our communications, including 5G, recognising the need to rely on secure and resilient systems.*
We have declared space as a fifth operational domain for NATO, recognising its importance in keeping us safe and tackling security challenges, while upholding International law.*
We are increasing our tools to respond to cyber attacks, and strengthening our ability to prepare for, deter, and defend against hybrid tactics that seek to undermine our security and societies.*
We recognise that China's​ growing influence and international policies present both opportunities and challenges that we need to address as an Alliance.*
We invite the Secretary General to present to Foreign Ministers a Council-agreed proposal for a forward-looking process under his auspices, drawing on relevant expertise, to further strengthen NATO's political dimension, including consultation.*
From the Secretary General's news conference:
 NATO is responding to Russia's deployment of intermediate-range, nuclear-capable missiles in a defensive and coordinated way.And we have tripled the size of the NATO Response Force, so we can quickly reinforce.And then we today launch the new Readiness Initiative, where we add even more forces to act quickly and reinforce if needed.
And today we have agreed to the updated plan for the Baltic countries and Poland.So I welcome that.We have just implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence in a generation.*

Chief of Naval Operations:More Attention to Deterrence Needed Across the Warfighting Domains

The Chief of Naval Operations,ADM John Richardson,spoke to a breakfast meeting of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies on 2 July 2019 in Washington,DC.On nuclear deterrence,ADM Richardson noted:
The nuclear triad remains the foundation of our military strength.It's an incredibly powerful military capability where potentially everybody gets destroyed.We must maintain our ability to be competitive and relevant in this domain...(and to be able to) strike back at anybody who can pose an existential threat to the homeland.
More nations are seeking to join the club.The nuclear element of this mix remains very relevant,very active,and deserves more attention,in my mind.*
ADM Richardson said the US should accelerate the effort to build a cost-effective,credible successor to the Trident II D5 missile.Some nations are developing high tech nuclear weapons,while others are pursuing low tech weapons such as dirty bombs and systems manufactured with 3-D printers.*
On cyber warfare:
We have to have an ability for offensive cyber to truly achieve a sense of deterrence here.*
On space warfare:
The competition is absolutely heating up in space.Of these elements that are going to constitute a tailored strategic deterrent approach,space has got to be one of those.These things operate really fast...and space goes away as an asset.You can see a kind of mutually assured destruction scenario in space pretty easily.Have we thought about that going forward?*
Chemical/biological warfare:
One of the self-deterrent aspects of Chem/Bio is that it's very hard to control.It goes viral,if you will.But with these tailored things,you can get a lot more specific.It becomes a lot more targetable.And so it's something that we have to (keep in) mind.*
Conventional warfare:
We have better sensors,better satellites,better ways to connect that data with our command and control systems,our targeting systems.We had an advantage in terms of precision.The idea of being able to locate things is becoming more ubiquitous.It's less of an advantage.It's really the team that can manage that information better that's going to achieve the advantage.*