Guardians of the North Atlantic

Dr. Sebastian Bruns; Dr. Christian Jentzsch

doi:10.5771/9783748962991

Summary

For over 75 years, NATO has provided for the collective defence of the Euro-Atlantic area. Naval forces have always played a key role in this endeavour. This volume describes the development of the Allies' maritime strategies since the mid-1980s, traces the rise of maritime security after the end of the Cold War, and outlines the impact of America's relative loss of power, Russia's violent challenge to the European security order, and China's rise as a maritime world power. How have European and American navies coped with these changing times? Which fleets did they deploy, how, where and for what purpose? The editors are naval strategist and political scientist
Dr. Sebastian Bruns and the military historian and Commander (German Navy)
Dr. Christian Jentzsch.
With contributions by Patricia Boh | Sebastian Bruns | Tom Duffy | Dominique Guillemin | Heiko Herold | Christian Jentzsch | Jan-Christian Kaack | Jon-Wyatt Matlack | Michal Piekarski | Duncan Redford | Johannes Riber | Diego Ruiz-Palmer | Anselm „A.J.“ van der Peet | Emma Salisbury | John D. Sherwood | Donald Thieme | Geoffrey Till | Berk Vindevogel | Lee Willett

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Bibliographic data

Publication year: 2025
Publication date: 27.11.2025
ISBN-Print: 978-3-7560-3420-8
ISBN-Online: 978-3-7489-6299-1
Publisher: Nomos, Baden-Baden
Series: ISPK Seapower Series
Volume: 7
Language: English
Pages: 414
Product type: Edited Book

1. Abbreviations No access
Preface: The German Navy – Regionally rooted and globally committed No access Pages 19 - 24 Jan-Christian Kaack
Sebastian Bruns, Christian Jentzsch
1. How we got to where we are No access
2. Who has written what, and why does it matter? No access
3. What’s in a name? No access
4. Historical overview: Maritime NATO throughout the Cold War No access
5. NATO in a unipolar and emerging multipolar world No access
6. Small and medium-sized navies shoulder NATO’s maritime commitments No access
7. A look at capstone documents and major naval operations No access
8. Command structures in an era of change and transformation No access
Diego A. Ruiz Palmer
1. NATO’s First Cold War Maritime Transformation (1967-1974) No access
2. Flexible Response: A new strategy and its challenges at sea No access
3. Turning the Tide No access
4. A Period of Transition (1975-1979): the path towards the CONMAROPS No access
5. A More Threatening Soviet Strategic Design No access
6. The Quest for a New Form of Allied Jointness No access
7. A Quickening Pace of Exercises No access
8. Everything Falls into Place No access
9. NATO’s Second Cold War Maritime Transformation (1980-1988) No access
10. Operating forward in the Norwegian Sea No access
11. Operating from inside Norwegian Fjords No access
12. Bringing the Cold War to a Peaceful End: The end of the naval era? No access
13. Looking Back: Insights from the CONMAROPS experience applicable today No access
Anselm van der Peet
1. Introduction No access
2. A New U.S. Maritime Strategy No access
3. Dutch Response to the Maritime Strategy No access
4. Maritime Strategy: tool against domestic political pressure and guideline for own strategic plans No access
5. Long-Term Legacy of the Maritime Strategy No access
6. Conclusion No access
Tom Duffy
1. Introduction No access
2. US Strategies and Operations of the Tanker War No access
3. Conclusion No access
Heiko Herold
1. Introduction No access
2. Current State of Research No access
3. Operation Determined Force No access
4. Operation Allied Force No access
5. The End of the Kosovo War No access
6. Conclusion No access
Dominique Guillemin
1. Allied Force (March-June 1999), A Major Step Towards Coalition Operations for the French Navy No access
2. 1. The Gulf War revealed the inadequacy of the French military capabilities for overseas operations in coalition No access
  2. The lessons of the Gulf War: a starting point for naval reform No access
  3. Toward a Navy focused on power projection No access
3. 1. How could the American “new world order” be translated into naval terms? No access
  2. UN, WEU, NATO – which command structure for operations in coalition from the sea? No access
4. 1. The controlled use of the carrier group in times of uncertainties No access
  2. Deploying a carrier group in operation during a period of low ships availability No access
5. 1. A tactical positioning that optimizes the potential of available forces No access
  2. The Challenges of Interallied Integration No access
Emma Salisbury
1. Modularity in NATO Navies No access
2. Why Make Fleets Modular? No access
3. Is Modularity All It Seems? No access
4. Alluring But Not a Panacea No access
Johannes Riber
1. Introduction No access
2. Danish Strategic Culture No access
3. Danish Naval Development in the 1980s No access
4. The Flyvefisken-Class: Modular shipbuilding No access
5. The Debate on the Thetis-Class: New Arctic fishery inspection ships No access
6. Frigates and Submarines in the 1980s No access
7. Danish Naval Development in the 1990s No access
8. The Absalon and Iver Huitfeldt-Classes: Towards a crisis response navy No access
9. The Danish Submarines: A relic from the Cold War No access
10. The Danish Navy as Coast Guard: Replacing cutters will patrol vessels No access
11. Concluding Remarks: Naval adaption to Danish strategic culture No access
Michał Piekarski
1. Introduction No access
2. The Polish Navy: Force structure and composition at the end of the Cold War No access
3. From Warsaw Pact to NATO (1990-99) No access
4. The Polish Navy after the NATO Enlargement: The start of blue water ambitions No access
5. Conflicting Visions No access
6. Conclusions and Future Challenges No access
Berk Vindevogel
1. Introduction No access
2. The All-Important, but Sometimes Forgotten, Northern Flank. No access
3. The End of the Cold War No access
4. High North + Low interest = Low Tension No access
5. The High North, Not the Arctic No access
6. Deterrence, Defence, and Détente No access
7. The Missing Pieces in the Northern Puzzle No access
8. Conclusions No access
John Darrell Sherwood
1. Introduction No access
2. The Origins of the Intervention No access
3. Embargo Operations No access
4. Mine Countermeasures No access
5. Naval Gunfire Support No access
6. Sea-based Airpower No access
7. Other Missions No access
8. Conclusion No access
Jon-Wyatt Matlack
1. Introduction No access
2. Why Naval Exercises No access
3. US Navy Strategy and NATO in the 1990s No access
4. Partnership for Peace No access
5. Naval Exercises: COOPERATIVE VENTURE 94 - BALTOPS 96 - STRONG RESOLVE 98 No access
6. Conclusion No access
Geoffrey Till
1. Introduction No access
2. Distinctive Characteristics of Grey Zone Operations at Sea No access
3. A Source of Resources No access
4. A Flow Resource No access
5. Sovereignty Issues at Sea No access
6. Political Influence and Military Dominion No access
7. Responding to Grey Zone Activities at Sea No access
8. Fighting Fire with Fire No access
9. Preparedness or Prediction-based Strategy? No access
10. Having a Coordinated Plan No access
11. Presenting a United Front No access
12. Being Aware through Being There No access
13. Avoiding Reliance on the Quick and Easy Techno-solution. No access
14. Achieving Mass by Other Means No access
15. Focusing on Back-Room Support No access
16. Conclusions No access
James J. Wirtz
1. What is “Integrated Deterrence”? No access
2. Integrated Deterrence at Sea No access
3. New Maritime Components of Integrated Deterrence. No access
4. Autonomous Systems No access
5. Creating “Strategic Effects”: Economic Pressure, Cyber, Long-Range Conventional Strike No access
6. SLCM-N No access
7. Conclusion No access
Lee Willett
1. "NATO’s geography won’t change .... 80 per cent of NATO’s AOR is wet, or influenced by the water.” No access
2. Russian Naval Strategy and Operations No access
3. Steadfast Response No access
4. The Principles of NATO’s Maritime Strategy No access
5. The Practice of NATO’s Maritime Strategy No access
6. Geography and Strategy No access
7. Collective Capability No access
8. Fight Tonight No access
9. Outlook: Specialism and Sustained Deterrence No access
Duncan Redford
1. Introduction No access
2. Before the Forward Maritime Strategy No access
3. The Forward Maritime Strategy No access
4. Time for a New Forward Maritime Strategy? No access
5. Conclusion No access
Don Thieme
1. Domains No access
Looking Back to Look Ahead No access Pages 373 - 384 Sebastian Bruns, Christian Jentzsch
About the authors No access Pages 385 - 392
Acknowledgement No access Pages 393 - 394
1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. Vision No access
  3. The strategic environment No access
  4. The contribution of maritime power to alliance security No access
  5. Implementing the Alliance Maritime Strategy No access
  6. Conclusion No access