flexible response doctrine

E30120

Cold War strategy military doctrine nuclear deterrence strategy

The flexible response doctrine was a Cold War U.S. military strategy that emphasized a wide range of graduated, conventional and nuclear options to deter or respond to aggression, rather than relying primarily on massive nuclear retaliation.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
flexible response	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Cold War strategy ⓘ military doctrine ⓘ nuclear deterrence strategy ⓘ
aimsTo	avoid automatic escalation to all-out nuclear war ⓘ deter aggression ⓘ provide credible response options at different levels of conflict ⓘ
appliedBy	United States Air Force ⓘ surface form: U.S. Air Force United States Army ⓘ surface form: U.S. Army United States Marine Corps ⓘ surface form: U.S. Marine Corps United States Navy ⓘ surface form: U.S. Navy
appliesTo	NATO military doctrine ⓘ surface form: NATO strategy U.S. military strategy ⓘ
associatedWithLeader	John F. Kennedy ⓘ Robert McNamara ⓘ
basedOnConcept	escalation ladder ⓘ proportional response ⓘ
component	conventional defense ⓘ strategic nuclear retaliation ⓘ tactical nuclear response ⓘ
contrastsWith	massive retaliation ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
criticizedFor	potential to normalize limited nuclear war ⓘ risk of controlled escalation failing ⓘ
developedInPeriod	early 1960s ⓘ
emphasizes	conventional military options ⓘ graduated response options ⓘ limited nuclear options ⓘ strategic nuclear options ⓘ
goal	enhance deterrence at all levels of conflict ⓘ provide political leaders with multiple military options ⓘ
implementedBy	NATO ⓘ surface form: North Atlantic Treaty Organization Department of Defense ⓘ surface form: U.S. Department of Defense
inDoctrineOf	NATO military doctrine ⓘ surface form: NATO MC 14/3 strategic concept
influencedBy	Berlin Crisis ⓘ Cuban Missile Crisis ⓘ perceived credibility problems of massive retaliation ⓘ
relatedTo	counterforce strategy ⓘ deterrence theory ⓘ escalation dominance ⓘ
replaced	massive retaliation doctrine ⓘ
requires	crisis management capabilities ⓘ strategic nuclear forces ⓘ strong conventional forces ⓘ tactical nuclear forces ⓘ
seeksTo	maintain escalation control ⓘ match adversary actions at appropriate level of force ⓘ
timePeriod	Cold War ⓘ
usedInContext	European theater defense planning ⓘ Cold War ⓘ surface form: NATO–Warsaw Pact confrontation

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

New Look defense policy → followedBy → flexible response doctrine ⓘ

Kennedy administration → foreignPolicyDoctrine → flexible response doctrine ⓘ

this entity surface form: flexible response