Terminating Major War in Europe.
Abstract
This essay addresses termination of major war in Europe , where potential escalation to use of nuclear weapon has become a conspicuous but necessary aspect of our strategy and structure. The author takes the war termination objective from its origins in the major European war context and develops the implied concepts, determinants of escalation, and elements of termination theory. He then examines the strategy and force structure of opposing sides in Europe to illuminate some of the key issues surrounding this often neglected but fundamental aspect of military strategy. He contends that, although termination is the only politically sensible objective in a major war between the superpowers, NATO's political organization and force structure do not currently provide the flexibility needed to effect termination decisions. Termination is the objective of choice for the United States and NATO, he concludes, but it may still be only a policy waiting for a corresponding strategy and structure. This document reviews the main points addressed in developing a termination theory and evaluating NATO strategy and structure from a U.S., Alliance and Soviet standpoint. It then describes the military implications arising from this evaluation, as well as military tasks corresponding to a viable termination strategy. Finally, it discusses a few issues that might concern military commanders because of the political and military requirements of termination. (kr)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 17, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA215137
Entities
People
- John F. Scott
Organizations
- United States Army War College