A New American Defensive Doctrine for Europe.

• Main Author: Deutsch,Harold C.
• Other Authors: ARMY WAR COLL STRATEGIC STUDIES INST CARLISLE BARRACKS PA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1976
• Subjects: Government and Political Science; *NATO; *DEFENSE SYSTEMS; *YUGOSLAVIA; MILITARY FORCES(UNITED STATES); FOREIGN POLICY; USSR; EUROPE; UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT; MILITARY DOCTRINE; THREAT EVALUATION; MEDITERRANEAN SEA; NORWAY; SOUTH(DIRECTION); OVERSEAS; COMMUNISTS; DETENTE; Southern Europe; Kola Peninsula; Norway; kola peninsula; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA025138; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA025138

This memorandum surveys developments, notably in Southern Europe, which demand a reassessment and possible restatement of US commitments. Communist advances in this area and the growing emphasis on the strategic significance of Yugoslavia give a sense of urgency. The Soviet thrust westward in the Mediterranean represents one horn of a dual encircling movement, the northern opposite of which is furnished by a vast expansion of land, sea, and air bases in the Kola peninsula. There is much to argue for forceful restatement of American concerns and intentions regarding the eastern shores of the North Atlantic. There should be stress on the open endedness of the American presence as well as on a determination to defend the domestic integrity of the NATO states against violent or unconstitutional procedures. Interest in the independence and integrity of Yugoslavia should be voiced to whatever extent the state of Western opinion may permit. As none of the earlier US declarations of fundamental policy are adequate, it would be well to weave these points together on the occasion of a broad presidential statement, such as the inaugural address or first State of the Union message of a new president. (Author)