TY - CHAP A1 - Bresinsky, Markus A1 - Brischar, Jule T1 - Between association and dissociation : the legitimacy politics of CIMIC experimentation N2 - NATO’s Concept Development and Experimentation (CD&E) works well for discrete technologies but is ill-suited to civil–military cooperation (CIMIC), where the ‘capability’ at stake is an interorganisational relationship. Drawing on regime-complex theory and organisational sociology, this paper argues that willingness to engage in joint CIMIC capability development hinges on legitimacy rather than technical utility. A legitimacy-scale metaphor captures the trade-off: functional gains from collaboration load one side; identity risks, such as threats to neutrality, autonomy, or safety, load the other. Three ideal-type cases test the framework. In stabilisation missions, humanitarian neutrality is vital, the scale tips toward identity risk, and co-creation remains siloed. In sudden-onset disasters, shared life-saving objectives reduce identity costs, functional incentives dominate, and integrated trials flourish. Territorial- and collective-defence scenarios occupy the middle ground: acute threat perception opens selective, often low-profile windows for cooperation, yet unresolved legal and reputational questions still temper overt collaboration. The analysis yields five practical lessons. First, legitimacy must be treated as a primary design variable. Second, the optimal depth of cooperation is context specific. Third, legitimacy-sensitive ‘safe-to-fail’ spaces – wargames, living labs, tabletop exercises – lower entry barriers. Fourth, structured reflection on legitimacy exposes red lines early and refines future joint efforts. Fifth, incremental processes can build trust and gradually relax legitimacy constraints. Recognising legitimacy as both constraint and resource allows practitioners to design CIMIC co-creation – and eventual experimentation – that is technically sound, politically acceptable, and ethically sustainable. KW - CIMIC KW - NATO KW - Legitimacy KW - Co-creation KW - Experimentation KW - Dissociation Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:898-opus4-85627 UR - https://www.cimic-coe.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/acaCIMICs_publication.pdf PB - CCOE ER -