NATO’s top military officer puts Italy’s South at the center of the Alliance’s strategy

NATO’s top military officer says the Alliance must keep its eyes on the Mediterranean even as Russia’s war against Ukraine keeps the eastern flank at the center of its deterrence effort

Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of NATO’s Military Committee, used a four-day visit to Taranto to make the case for a 360-degree approach to security — one in which Italy’s southern military hub becomes increasingly relevant to the Alliance’s “Southern Flank.”

In an interview with La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, published Sunday, the former chief of Italy’s defense staff described Taranto as “a natural bridge between the Mediterranean and Europe” and a strategic platform for Italy and NATO. 

Why it matters: NATO is simultaneously confronting the Russian threat in the East and a much broader set of security challenges across its southern neighborhood.

Cavo Dragone links the Mediterranean not only to conventional military threats, but to terrorism, irregular migration exploited as a hybrid weapon, energy security and critical infrastructure.
Taranto gives that strategy a concrete Italian dimension. The city hosts NATO infrastructure and is preparing for the activation of the Multinational Maritime Command for the South of the Alliance, under Italian leadership.
His message is also about burden sharing: after NATO allies agreed in Ankara to move toward spending 5% of GDP on defense and security, Cavo Dragone argues that higher spending must translate into capabilities, innovation and readiness — not simply larger budgets. 

Zoom in: Why Taranto. Cavo Dragone’s choice of Taranto was deliberate. “Taranto is not a courtesy stop: it is a strategic piece of the Alliance,” he told the newspaper.

He pointed to the Mar Grande naval base, the city’s NATO infrastructure, the Southern Operational Center of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, and the future Multinational Maritime Command.
Together, he said, they make Taranto “a privileged observatory on the Southern Flank.”
The city is also home to Italy’s Navy and provides permanent NATO naval forces with operational and logistical support. Cavo Dragone said he wanted to visit the sailors personally “also as a way of saying thank you.” 

The big picture: NATO’s two fronts. The interview comes with an important tension running through it: how does NATO maintain deterrence against Russia without allowing its focus on the eastern flank to obscure threats emerging from the South?

Cavo Dragone rejects the idea that the two priorities compete. “I see the Mediterranean as having a dedicated route,” he said. “The threats do not stop at borders.”
He listed terrorism, irregular migration used as a hybrid weapon, energy security and protection of critical infrastructure among challenges that directly affect NATO allies.
His answer is NATO’s established 360-degree security approach.
Taranto fits that framework because, in his words, “the Mediterranean is not a periphery. It is a center, whose nature can change very quickly.” 

Russia: “We will defend every centimeter”. On Russia, Cavo Dragone delivered an unambiguous deterrence message.

Asked whether Moscow could really attack a NATO country, he said his job was to make sure “an attack on allied territory never makes sense,” pointing to NATO’s work on the eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
That includes an integrated presence through NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence, air surveillance and defense, rapid-reaction capabilities and exercises.
“The message, for those listening, is clear: we will defend every centimeter of allied territory,” Cavo Dragone said.

Yes but… He added an equally important qualifier: “Those who want to put us to the test should know that we are ready.”

Between the lines: Cavo Dragone’s framing is significant because it does not present the Mediterranean as an alternative to NATO’s eastern priorities.

Instead, the South becomes part of the same deterrence architecture.
Southern security is connected to partnerships with countries including Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, while the future NATO command in Taranto is presented as a way to maintain high-level attention on the South within the Alliance’s agenda.

Follow the money. The other major message from Cavo Dragone concerns NATO’s new spending commitments.

Asked about the Alliance’s decision in Ankara to progressively raise spending to 5% of GDP, he described the commitment as both “ambitious” and “credible.”
According to the figures he cited, NATO members are expected to invest €1.5 trillion in defense this year, with infrastructure modernization requiring a further €27 billion and programs for stockpiling and distributing fuel another €11 billion.

But the admiral’s emphasis was on what comes after the money. Spending more, he said, also means investing more heavily in personnel, innovation and adaptation.

Modern military capabilities increasingly combine the physical and digital domains and require the right tools to prevail “in an increasingly multidomain and systemic manner.” 

What we’re watching: The concrete test will be whether the political decisions taken at NATO level turn into operational capabilities quickly enough.

Cavo Dragone singled out speed of implementation as the key issue: converting political decisions into real capabilities.
And Taranto, in his telling, is where part of that strategy will become visible: “The sea, in Taranto, knows this well,” he said, “before those who make it.”