The Military University Institute (IUM) hosted, from 14 to 24 April, the NATO Strategic Communications and Information Operations Course, an initiative delivered in partnership with the StratCom Academy.
Over two weeks of advanced and intensive training, military and civilian participants from Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Portugal and the United Kingdom developed skills in the analysis and planning of communication and information activities within the cognitive domain.
In an international context marked by strategic competition, the proliferation of hybrid threats and the growing centrality of the information environment, the course focused on critical areas such as Strategic Communications, Information Operations, influence, public perception and narrative coherence in support of the Alliance’s strategic objectives.
The war in Ukraine has clearly demonstrated that contemporary conflicts are contested not only on the battlefield, but also across cognitive, digital and media spaces, where legitimacy, trust and credibility play a decisive role. In this context, preparing professionals capable of understanding and operating in this environment has become an operational necessity.
The closing ceremony was presided over by the Head of the IUM’s Department of Postgraduate Studies, Major General Ana Telha, who emphasised that Strategic Communications is no longer a supporting capability but has become an essential competence of contemporary military leadership, indispensable for informed decision-making, the credibility of forces and the success of operations.
Over the past three years, participants from Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, the United States of America, Finland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Ukraine, Germany, France, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway and Saudi Arabia have attended the international Strategic Communications courses, reflecting the multinational dimension of the initiative and the growing trust placed in the IUM and the StratCom Academy as key actors within NATO’s training ecosystem.
By hosting initiatives of this nature, the Military University Institute strengthens its international standing as a centre of academic and professional excellence within the Euro-Atlantic space, contributing to the preparation of leaders and specialists equipped to address the strategic challenges of the present and the future.
