Total defence is the sum of the country's civilian and military resources, which work together to prevent and manage crises, armed conflicts and war. Total defence is part of civil-military cooperation, but is limited to include mutual support and cooperation between the Armed Forces and civil society related to security policy crises and armed conflict.
A flexible instrument
Over time, the total defence concept has been adapted to the ever-changing societal challenges, and has proven to be a flexible instrument for good utilisation of society's collective resources. This means that both civilian and military resources can be used to solve existing and new challenges. The total defence concept follows the division of responsibilities in administration and regulations for the protection of important values in society such as security for the population, the independence of the kingdom and national governance.
Complex threat picture
Major challenges in our security policy environment brought to the fore the importance of total defence for Norway's overall defence capability. Norway is currently facing a broadly complex threat landscape that is increasingly affecting across sectors and which may challenge the authorities' ability to make good and timely decisions. Security policy developments are characterised, among other things, by the fact that both state and non-state actors are using a wider range of instruments. This development places high demands on Norway's civil and military preparedness, situational awareness, handling capacity and resilience.
Expectations from NATO
Large parts of Norway's total defence work must be seen in the context of the guidelines that NATO provides as a party to the alliance. This means that DSB, in cooperation with JD, must actively participate in important processes, and follow up on guidelines and guidelines given by NATO.
As part of efforts to strengthen civil-military cooperation and the resilience of society, NATO has set seven expectations for resilience in critical societal functions, commitment to implement expectations, national implementation of expectations and evaluation of progress in each country in implementing expectations.