Description
NATO’s Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) concept is operationally ambitious but
its deterrent potential remains unclear. In this article, we explore if and how states may deter
adversarial conventional aggression by adopting an MDO operational posture. By exploring
MDO’s explicit and implicit signals, we demonstrate the concept communicates a dual
willingness to engage in protracted (attritional/exhaustional) and rapid
(annihilational/paralytic) warfare. While great powers may afford and even benefit from such
ambiguity by virtue of being able to engage in both kinds of warfare, small states lack
capabilities to prevail in either kind of warfare, at least without sufficient specialization.
