Sergei Bondarchuk’s 1970 film Waterloo, produced by Dino De Laurentiis, is a monumental depiction of the historic battle that marked the end of Napoleon Bonaparte’s reign. The film offers a rich tapestry of visual storytelling and historical representation. Filmed during the Cold War in Soviet Ukraine, the Western production used 15,000 soldiers from the Red Army to make the film, including an entire cavalry battalion.

Frontline Flicks: Waterloo (1970)

In modern warfare, the ability to gather critical intelligence while remaining hidden is crucial. New portable surveillance technologies are disruptive. Replacing static devices, they are deployable on the ground, in the air and on the water surface. This significantly enhances discreet, versatile, and rapid intelligence-gathering capabilities.

Read the article:
https://nordicdefencereview.com/rethinking-the-battlefield-the-quiet-might-of-passive-surveillance/

Rethinking the Battlefield: The Quiet Might of Passive Surveillance

What really drove the Kremlin during the Cold War—wild-eyed dreams of global communism, or cold-blooded fear for its own survival? The answer matters because the same instincts may still shape Moscow’s next moves. According to Melvyn P. Leffler, the binary view of ideology versus security is overly simplistic. Understanding the Kremlin’s motivations is crucial to countering and deterring Russia’s contemporary expansionist ambitions.

Read the article:
https://nordicdefencereview.com/the-kremlins-gambit-understanding-soviet-motivations-in-the-cold-war/

The Kremlin’s Gambit: Understanding Soviet Motivations in the Cold War

Kannattaa olla pragmaattinen, Varsinais-Suomen hyvinvointialueen tietohallintojohtaja Jari Poromaa pohtii tulevia palveluverkostopäätöksiä. Joka paikassa ei tarvitse tehdä kaikkea. 

ICT ja digitalisaatio voivat parhaimmillaan parantaa tuottavuutta ja palvelukokemusta, mutta ne eivät kuitenkaan korvaa asiakkaan ja potilaan tarvitsemia hoitoja, hoivaa ja läsnäpalveluita. UNAn kehitysjohtaja Juha Rannanheimo muistuttaa, miten digitalisaatio on parantanut palvelukokemuksia muilla toimialoilla.

 Poromaa ja Rannanheimo antavat myös evästyksiä juuri aloittaville aluepäättäjille ja rohkaisevat heitä tekemään kauaskatseisia päätöksiä. Ongelmat ovat tiedossa. Vaikka ratkaisuvaihtoehtoja on pöydällä vielä paljon, näkymät onneksi ovat selkiytymässä.

 Hyvinvointialueiden tilanteesta ja tulevaisuusnäkymistä ajankohtaista keskustelua tuoreimmassa UNAn sotepuhe-podcastissa.

Rohkeutta katsoa eteenpäin!

In footage from the war in Ukraine, eagle-eyed observers keep spotting something strange: thick, stripped logs lashed to the rear of Russian tanks. No, they’re not firewood, and they’re not some crude form of extra armour either. 

They’re a Cold War-era survival tool – a so-called unditching beam and they’re still in use because, even in 2025, Russian tanks are getting stuck in the mud.

Read the article: 
https://nordicdefencereview.com/still-stuck-in-the-mud-why-russian-tanks-carry-logs-in-the-21st-century/

Still Stuck in the Mud: Why Russian Tanks Carry Logs in the 21st Century

A Masterpiece of Class, War, and Futility. There’s a reason Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion still rattles nerves nearly 90 years on. It’s not just a classic. 

It’s a ruthless dissection of European warfare, class arrogance, and the idiocy of nationalism—delivered with the grace of high cinema and the punch of a bayonet to the ribs. War never looked so polite. Or so damning.

Read the article:
https://nordicdefencereview.com/frontline-flicks-la-grande-illusion-1937/

Frontline Flicks: La Grande Illusion (1937)

The Finnish government has announced a draft proposal to increase the maximum age for military reservists from 60 to 65 years. This initiative aims to expand Finland's wartime reserve forces by approximately 125,000 personnel, potentially bringing the total number of reservists to one million by 2031.

Read the article:
https://nordicdefencereview.com/facing-russian-threat-finland-plans-to-keep-reservists-until-65/

Facing Russian Threat, Finland Plans to Keep Reservists Until 65

Ghost Fleet by P.W. Singer and August Cole is a speculative military thriller that envisions a near-future conflict where a technologically advanced China, allied with Russia, launches a surprise attack on the United States, leading to the occupation of Hawaii and a global war spanning land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace.

Authors Singer and Cole, both experts in defence and technology, craft a narrative grounded in real-world trends and emerging technologies, offering a cautionary tale about the vulnerabilities of modern military systems and the potential consequences of geopolitical tensions.

Read the article:
https://nordicdefencereview.com/bunker-books-ghost-fleet-a-novel-of-the-next-world-war-2015/

Bunker Books: Ghost Fleet – A Novel of the Next World War (2015)

Suomessa on pian 200.000 nykyistä enemmän yli 75-vuotiasta. Heidän hoitonsa järjestäminen on aikamoinen pommi purettavaksi. Miten he saavat inhimillistä hoitoa? Robotiikka ja teknologia ovat ainakin osaratkaisu, tekoäly- ja robotiikka-asiantuntija Cristina Andersson kirjoittaa UNA Oy:n toimeksiannosta tekemässään raportista monitoimirobottien hyötykäytöstä tulevaisuuden sote-palveluissa, erityisesti ikääntyneiden kotipalveluissa. Anderssonia haastattaa Jan Erola.

Robotiikka pelastaa Suomen hoitopommilta

A Blueprint for European Backbone? Charles de Gaulle’s War Memoirs are not easy reading. They are grandiose, deliberate, and unmistakably self-serving. Yet in the brittle geopolitical moment we now find ourselves in—2025, with the United States shifting inward and unpredictable—Europe’s leaders could do far worse than sit down and actually read – or listen to – them.

Read the article:
https://nordicdefencereview.com/bunker-books-charles-de-gaulles-war-memoirs-1955/

Bunker Books: Charles de Gaulle’s War Memoirs (1955)

For over four decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been under siege—not just through sanctions and speeches, but via a relentless, largely undeclared campaign of sabotage, cyberwarfare, assassinations, and airstrikes. Orchestrated primarily by Israel and the United States, this “secret war” has targeted Iran’s nuclear ambitions, military infrastructure, and top scientists with precision and patience.

Read the article:
https://nordicdefencereview.com/the-secret-war-on-iran-decades-of-sabotage-sanctions-and-strikes/

The Secret War on Iran: Decades of Sabotage, Sanctions, and Strikes

Focusing on security and defence issues. Audio version of the publication: https://nordicdefencereview.com

Frontline Flicks: Waterloo (1970)

Nordic Defence Review

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