An overview of the 20-year collaboration between NATO and earth scientists to assess geohazards in the caucasus and other critical regions

We hereby provide an overview of four multi-year projects on geohazard assessment and mitigation, carried out under the umbrella of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with the involvement of more than 80 scientists coming from several countries, among which the US, Georgia, Italy, Russia, Azerbaijan. The projects have been aimed at enhancing the security of people and the safety of vital infrastructures as well as facilitating cooperation between scientists from NATO and non-NATO countries. The study areas are located in the Caucasus (Georgia), in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan) and Northeast Asia (Kamchatka). Our work clearly demonstrates how Earth Science can contribute to improving scientific collaboration among countries that are politically in tension; moreover, geoscience can play a key role in preventing situations that may escalate into conflicts. This paper showcases the main results of the NATO-funded projects, both in terms of their scientific relevance and their geopolitical importance.