The Strategic Studies Unit of the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies is convening its fifth annual conference, titled “Defence Strategies of Small States and Smaller Forces: Tactical Adaptations and Operational Innovations” on 23-25 February 2025, with the participation of 36 leading scholars and expert practitioners from 28 countries around the world.

Across 10 panels, the conference will examine the spectrum of security challenges and responses available to 30 cases of smaller states and substate forces. Drawing from numerous comparative and regional case studies – from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia, including the Gulf and the wider Middle East region – participants will analyse the evolving nature of defence practices in small states and the innovative means they employ to confront emerging security threats.

The aim of the conference is threefold. First, it provides a multi-level analysis – from tactical innovations to strategic adaptations – that bridges frontline field-experiences with broader academic debates about alliance structures, mobilization, the role of transnational nonstate forces, and other factors impacting small state defence. Second, it offers comparative insights drawn from both regular small(er) state militaries and irregular nonstate forces, illuminating how similar constraints – such as limited manpower, economic resources, or geopolitical influence – produce diverse, sometimes surprising strategic adaptations, operational arts, and tactical innovations. Third, it considers how these developments shape strategic defence policy agendas, contribute to national and regional security postures, and potentially transform or disrupt regional and international security architectures as well as defence doctrines.

The conference sessions will be held in person at the Arab Center in Doha. All sessions will be livestreamed on Arab Center social media, and simultaneous translation between Arabic and English will be available throughout.

* The conference booklet.