When NATO leaders meet at the Madrid summit later this year, they will finalise the new Strategic Concept and determine the Alliance’s approach to defence and deterrence for the next decade. This is a pivotal time for the future role of strategic communications in NATO. In the lead-up to the summit, people thinking about and practicing strategic communications must clarify the following questions: How can a strategic communications mindset further strengthen NATO deterrence? What are the main tensions in the field of strategic communications which must be heeded in the new Strategic Concept? And more generally, what are the prerequisites and priorities for its implementation over the next years?