![]() ![]() ![]() This was replaced in 1968 with “flexible response,” designed to provide a range of conventional and nuclear options to boost deterrence credibility short of nuclear response. To counter growing Soviet conventional and nuclear forces, NATO leaned more heavily on nuclear deterrence in its 1957 concept, adopting the doctrine of “massive retaliation” - which included the possibility of nuclear first use in response to conventional Soviet aggression. This was complemented by the plan of General Dwight Eisenhower - then Supreme Allied Commander Europe - for NATO to “make itself into a hedgehog of defence.” This involved both forward defense to “arrest the enemy advance as far to the East as possible,” and active opposition to peacetime aggression through “all measures short of war.” strategic nuclear forces, which compensated for the numerical superiority of Soviet conventional forces. The threat of nuclear punishment relied on the advantage conferred by U.S. Its first two strategic concepts - formalized in 19 - were designed to deter by punishment and denial. NATO’s approach to its fundamental task of deterrence evolved throughout the Cold War and was transformed after it. To judge NATO’s eighth strategic concept it helps to understand the previous seven. To close the gap, NATO should revitalize - and modernize - the basic tenets of the “sword and shield” strategy and the “hedgehog defense” that contained Soviet aggression. While the threat from Russia has returned to Cold War levels, NATO’s strategy is playing catch up. These measures were described by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, as “the biggest overhaul of our collective deterrence and defence since the Cold War.” However, although the concept sets out a high level of ambition, NATO still has plenty of work to do to meet it. In Madrid NATO revealed its new strategic concept and made significant force posture changes to bolster deterrence and defense. At the end of June, with war raging in Ukraine and a revanchist Russia making nuclear threats towards its members, NATO’s leaders gathered a short distance away in Madrid with just eight forward-deployed battlegroups at their disposal. By the end of the Cold War it had over 100. When NATO leaders gathered in Lisbon in 1952, the Alliance hoped to have 50 divisions available to deter Soviet attack. ![]()
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