flexible response doctrine

E30120

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.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
flexible response 1
flexible response doctrine canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

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 U.S. Air Force
U.S. Army
linked to: United States Army

U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Navy
linked to: United States Navy
appliesTo 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
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 North Atlantic Treaty Organization
linked to: NATO

U.S. Department of Defense
inDoctrineOf 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
NATO–Warsaw Pact confrontation
linked to: Cold War

How these facts were elicited

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
linked to: flexible response doctrine