Seapower in the nuclear age: NATO as a maritime alliance

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:6513036

Sokolsky, J J

This study examines the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, (NATO), from the perspective of its collective maritime forces; how those forces were organized, what task they were given, and how they related to the broader strategic and political doctrines of the Alliance. Drawing upon much heretofore classified material, the study begins with a history and analysis of the cold water at sea. It then examines the impact of the growth in Soviet maritime capabilities and the adoption by NATO of a strategy of flexible response upon the allied posture at sea. A single chapter is devoted to the reinforcement sealift problem. The concluding chapter discusses NATO and the war at sea in the early 1980s. The study comes to the following basic conclusions: (1) the collective maritime forces of the Alliance, both nuclear and conventional, have had as their tasks the traditional task all maritime forces have had in the past - to exploit the strategic value of the seas for the purposes of conveyance and projection and to deny these usages to the enemy; (2) NATO's maritime posture has been consistent with the overall strategies of the Alliance (3) the strategy of flexible response only increased NATO's need to exploit that strategic value of the seas, but did so at a time when the Soviets were becoming increasingly able to deny NATO effective use of the sea to support its position on the European continent.

• Research Organization: Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6513036
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290000 -- Energy Planning & Policy
290600 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
350000* -- Arms Control-- (1987-)
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
AGREEMENTS
ARMS CONTROL
ASIA
EASTERN EUROPE
EUROPE
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
MILITARY STRATEGY
NATO
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
USSR