The need for alliances is a basic tenet of war craft and national security. Finland and Sweden will soon be a part of NATO thereby presenting an almost impregnable defence posture.

1. The New Security Architecture with Finland and
Sweden’s NATO Memberships
Dr Sarma VANGALA
CEO
Metastrategy, Inc
Toronto, CANADA

3. • For decades the people of Sweden and
Finland were against joining NATO.
• This calculus changed on February 24th, 2022
when Russia invaded Ukraine.

5. May 18th, 2022
Sweden and Finland formally apply for membership.

6. Memberships Decades in the
Making
• Both joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace in 1995;
• Contributed personnel to NATO-led ops in
Afghanistan, the Balkans and Iraq;
• They became two of just six Enhanced Opportunity
Partners in 2014;
• Have worked to increase their militaries’
interoperability with NATO forces;

7. Memberships Decades in the
Making
In 2022 Sweden hosted more than a dozen
NATO allies and Finland in BALTOPS 22, a
significant maritime war game in the Baltic Sea.

9. Prerequisites for Membership
• Political, Economic and Military requirements
have to be met;
• Must demonstrate that they’ll uphold all of
the policies and principles in the 1949
WashingtonTreaty, NATO’s charter.

10. One for All. All for One

11. Road to Membership
• All 30 current NATO members must agree to
and sign the “Accession Protocols” for Finland
and Sweden;
• In the US, the signing authority rests with the
President with the approval of 2/3 of the
Senate

12. NoTime to Waste

15. Speed Bump on Road to
Membership
• Türkiye has objected on the grounds that the
two countries support a Kurdish militant
group in Syria, the People’s Protection Units
{YPG} which they consider a terrorist group.

16. Table Stakes

17. Open Questions
• Basing rights for NATO troops
– Sweden has said NO
– Finland has not given aYES or a NO
• Arctic deterrence
– Russia has major investments in commercial and
military infrastructure in the Arctic

18. • “If an enemy has alliances, the problem is
grave and the enemy’s position strong; if he
has no alliances, the problem is minor and the
enemy’s position weak.”
SunTzu
Military Strategist
circa 500 BC

19. SarmaVANGALA, Ph D
Chief Executive Officer
Metastrategy, Inc.
• SarmaVangala is a corporate consultant
specialising in Strategy, M&A and Business
Transformation
• Based inToronto, CANADA
• BTech (IIT(M)); PhD (Exon.); Professional Engineer
• sarma.vangala@metastrategyinc.com

20. Dynamics