I may have brought this up early last year, though I don't fully recall. Since there is the Cold War going on, is propaganda a factor, in relation to, nor not in relation to the aliens? Let's say a "faction" within NATO or Warsaw is indepdently working on some technology, against the aliens, or even in league with them, this might something to think about for a "stealth mission." You dispatch one or a small number of agents to recover to destroy said technology, while covering your tracks.
If i'm bringing up a dead horse, my apologies. Currently dealing with a stressful situation in RL.
Anyway, I liked that local police existed in X1. But they were weak and not very intelligent. I'd like to see occasional incidents or big battles wherethe mission is to rescue a force of NATO or Warsaw troops under attack. The idea is that, this force can hold its own, (and their tech would improve over time like Xnauts), but ultimately they will be wiped out if you can't get to them during the ground mission and help them fight off the aliens, since there are too many of them. Helping this force would give improve relations wth Xnauts and said faction. Further, for propaganda, it could be that Xnauts puts out propaganda saying "Warsaw helps native defeat extremist rebels" in at attempt to improve relations between both parties but without revealing the alien threat.