Maritime Strategy in a Revolutionary Era
Abstract
The Maritime Strategy as codified by Admiral Watkins in 1986 provided a framework for global use of naval forces across the operational continuum to war termination. It was primarily a product of thinking based on a national strategy of containment, and its Warfighting section is really a published campaign plan for engaging the Soviets in a conventional war. Its framework, the threats portrayed by Admiral Watkins, and the perceived threats of today and the near future are detailed in this paper. Revolutionary events of the past two years have changed our nation's view of the world from the singular ominous Soviet bear to a multipolar threat world with a plethora of potential Third World crises. The Maritime Strategy is very singular in its objective and was effective for its time; however, since the threat is no longer single point, the strategy should change to a policy toward many and coalition building should be broadened to include discussing combined naval operations with the Soviets. Soviet/US combined naval forces are seen to have the potential for providing stability in many regions of the globe that were previously seen to be areas of expansion/containment of our/their ideologies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 21, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA235447
Entities
People
- Timothy J. Dull
Organizations
- United States Army War College