This book explores the politics of military exercises in Europe between 1975 and 2018, revealing how NATO, the Soviet Union, and Russia have used exercises as political tools and how these activities shaped and reflected their perception of the threat environment. Drawing on extensive archival research and expert interviews, this work offers an examination of (and reflection on) European security by combining a detailed analysis of military exercises across three distinct periods (1975–1990, 1991–2013, 2014–2018) with an exploration of the development of Confidence- (and Security-) Building Measures, bridging Cold War and contemporary security environments. Studies of military exercises in the past have mostly focused on actors’ capabilities or on isolated exercises. What sets the present book apart is that it reveals how strategic culture shapes threat perception and, therefore, demonstrates how NATO and Russia interpret military exercises differently based on their interpretation of what is considered “security”. By exploring the politics of military exercises across three distinct periods, the analysis identifies how culturally driven factors that contribute to international actors’ threat perception have a hand in shaping security dynamics. This book will be of interest to academics, researchers, policymakers, and graduate students in the fields of European security, NATO-Russia relations, strategic culture, and international relations more broadly.
