Strategic wargames show how deterrence is tested before it is challenged. By placing senior decision-makers in a fast-moving, contested space scenario, the Polaris Guard wargame demonstrated how choices, signals, and capabilities shape an adversary’s calculations. This was not a theoretical exercise, but a strategic stress test of NATO’s ability to deter in an increasingly complex environment. Delivered by NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT), Polaris Guard examined how capability, credibi