What if Russia’s most dangerous weapon isn’t the one that starts a war — but the one that keeps us permanently on the edge of one?

From drones over European airports and sabotage to cyberattacks, disinformation and military intimidation, Russia is testing NATO below the threshold of open conflict. But how far can Moscow push before someone miscalculates?

In this episode of The Focus Podcast, Dr John Bruni speaks with leading German security expert Dr Karl-Heinz Kamp about Russia’s campaign of pressure against Europe, what Moscow is trying to achieve, and whether NATO is genuinely prepared for a confrontation that may never look like conventional war.

Show Notes:

About Dr Karl-Heinz Kamp: Dr Karl-Heinz Kamp is one of Germany’s leading experts on NATO, European security and nuclear deterrence. A former President of Germany’s Federal Academy for Security Policy and Research Director at the NATO Defense College in Rome, he has also served in senior roles within Germany’s defence establishment and advised NATO on its Strategic Concept. He is currently an Associate Fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), specialising in transatlantic security, NATO and deterrence.

Karl-Heinz’s top three publications:

Nuclear NATO: How to Make it Credible and Efficient — German Council on Foreign Relations, 2024. A substantial examination of how NATO needs to adapt its nuclear deterrence posture to the changed European security environment. 

Nuclear Implications of the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict — NATO Defense College, 2015. An important early analysis of how Russia’s aggression against Ukraine brought nuclear deterrence back to the centre of Euro-Atlantic security. 

NATO’s Nuclear Weapons in Europe: Beyond “Yes” or “No” — NATO Defense College, 2010. One of Kamp’s notable earlier studies of NATO nuclear strategy and the future credibility of the Alliance’s deterrent. 

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