I greatly appreciate the opportunity to write this brief introduction to the Strategic Communications (STRATCOM) segment of "Baltic Amber". Since the first edition of our magazine came out in 2006, we have witnessed extensive changes in the information environment. This particularly applies to communications technology, which enables a continuous 24-hour flow of information of all kinds - some accurate, some less so and some deliberately misguiding - perpetuated with the intention to confuse or deceive the public. Today, a significant amount of time is spent verifying facts and sifting falsehoods from the truth.

Like a lens, Multinational Corps Northeast's STRATCOM Division focuses all of the major challenges which communicators from across the Alliance respond to every single day. This is because the Baltic Sea region, Multinational Corps Northeast included, has become a central component of NATO's collective security. Russia's brutal attack against Ukraine has yet again reminded us that information is a weapon, force multiplier and target at the same time.

I am all the more proud that this segment of "Baltic Amber" is participated by leading communications experts who shape NATO's STRATCOM policies and a great many practitioners whose daily work results in a comprehensive analysis of the regional information environment and the provision of transparent and fact-based communication. I would like to say a huge thank you for your time and effort that has gone into writing these highly informative pieces.

The articles gathered here represent - I dare say - the first such overview of STRATCOM in the Baltic Sea region, and I do hope that they will encourage other communicators to submit papers for publication in order to highlight the vital role of our craft. Ultimately, as a STRATCOM community, it is on us to identify hostile information activities and, more importantly, to promote the Alliance by telling the ever-evolving NATO story.