NATO Conference Double Feature: UNO Professors Illuminate Gender Perspectives in Modern Warfare

How often do faculty members find themselves presenting at two different conferences on the same day? For UNO political science professors Lana Obradovic, Ph.D., and Jody Neathery-Castro, Ph.D., this exceptional occurrence unfolded this fall during NATO’s 23rd International Concept Development and Experimentation (ICDE) Conference and the NATO Allied Command Transformation Annual Gender Advisor Conference, both held concurrently in Norfolk, Virginia.

Obradovic and Neathery-Castro first presented their now-published NATO Open Perspectives Exchange Network (OPEN) report on "Integrating Gender Perspective in Cognitive Warfare” at the ICDE Conference. They were invited to write a report that addresses a paradigm shift in modern warfare, where information technology, neurocognitive science, and AI play pivotal roles in manipulating human cognition as it relates to gender.

The primary goal was to understand the nature of gendered cognitive warfare and examine its implications for democratic societies and national security interests. More specifically, they set out to examine how strategic competitors seek to exploit gender as a tool to meddle in democratic processes, subvert decision-making, and undermine social cohesion, political stability, trust in government, inclusivity, and a sense of collective responsibility.

The ICDE Conference, operating under the theme "On the Path to a Multi-Domain Enabled Alliance" and comprising 218 delegates from 30 nations, provided a forum to showcase the convergence of ideas and innovation, propelled by the impact of cutting-edge technologies reshaping traditional military capabilities.

The second conference, the NATO Allied Command Transformation Annual Gender Advisor Conference, serves as a platform for sharing information, raising awareness, and examining how NATO can further operationalize the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda in the development of warfare. Obradovic and Neathery-Castro shed light on leveraging cyber capabilities to combat gendered disinformation and online gender-based violence, aligning seamlessly with NATO's Warfare Development Agenda. This event brought together general staff, subject-matter experts, and senior military leadership to explore "Gender Perspective and NATO’s Warfare Development Activities."

These presentations, among other efforts, mark yet another step forward in fostering collaborations between UNO and NATO.

This fall, a NATO Model Event was hosted on the UNO campus and engaged 30 UNO students in a simulated session covering pertinent and growing topics within geopolitics. NATO staff have also visited several UNO classes in political science and international studies to engage with students and visited the Nebraska Deterrence Lab where both students and faculty work to develop and test tools that can help inform decision-making analysis.