Newswise — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) launched a nuclear exercise on Monday over western Europe, with more than 60 aircraft taking part in training flights. NATO said the exercise, dubbed “Steadfast Noon,” will run for two weeks and is a routine exercise that happens every October. It coincidentally comes on the heels of Russian President Vladimir Putin's suggestion that Moscow would change its doctrine determining how it would use nuclear weapons, Newsweek reports.

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Erwan Lagadec is an associate research professor at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at the GW Elliott School of International Affairs, where he leads Elliott School programs on EU and NATO affairs. In addition to NATO and the EU, he is an expert on development aid, crisis management, transatlantic relations in a time of transition, NATO projecting stability, sub-national transatlantic relations, and the politics of aid.

Amy Austin Holmes is a research professor of international affairs and acting director of the Foreign Area Officers Program at GW. Holmes has published widely on the global American military posture, the NATO alliance, non-state actors, revolutions, military coups, and de-facto states. With more than 15 years global experience conducting research in the Middle East and Europe, including various conflict zones, she is a noted expert on issues of American foreign policy and international security.

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