Dr. Lukas Milevski receives the General Jonas Žemaitis Award for a publication “Manoeuvre Warfare in the Baltic: Political Imperatives and Tactical Conditions”.

Dr Lukas Milevski in his article claims that NATO is facing a doctrinally contradictory defence posture in the Baltic States as those countries are investing in a static defence line even while Western militaries adhere to manoeuvre-focused operational approaches.  The article further argues that political imperatives and tactical conditions make static defence more appropriate than manoeuvre warfare.  Politically, NATO’s policy of defending every inch and Baltic experience of Russian occupation require forward defence.  Second, the Russian border will always stop offensive manoeuvre.  Tactically, the increasing difficulty of crossing the battlefield intact improves the chances of tactical defence and throws doubt upon the necessity of defensive operational manoeuvre. Dr Lukas Milevski is an assistant professor (tenured) at the Institute for History at Leiden University, where he teaches strategic studies. He has published two books with Oxford University Press: The Evolution of Modern Grand Strategic Thought (2016) and The West’s East: Contemporary Baltic Defence in Strategic Perspective (2018) and publishes widely in academic and professional journals on strategy as well as Baltic defence.