Forward Defence in the Cold War

The term ‘forward defence’, although not formally used by NATO itself to describe its defence posture in the Baltic region, has become common among analysts and political leaders. Echoing the well-established use of the term during the Cold War, forward defence broadly refers to building a sufficiently robust military presence to ensure deterrence by denial, rather than relying on reinforcement and deterrence by punishment.

This analysis examines what forward defence meant during the Cold War when NATO’s deterrence and defence posture was centred around the inner German border. It looks at the resources devoted by Allies to the defence of West-Germany and outlines NATO’s high-level strategies for conventional and nuclear defence.

During the Cold War, NATO pursued a strategy of forward defence centred on West-Germany, intended to slow the advances of the Warsaw Pact and allow time for other NATO troops to reinforce the area. This highly resource-intensive effort was made necessary, in large part, by the threatening presence of huge numbers of Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces deployed near NATO’s borders.

NATO’s circumstances are somewhat different today. Most Warsaw Pact members are now Allies, and their accession to NATO, along with the Baltic states, several south-east European states and, more recently, Finland and Sweden, have substantially altered Europe’s geostrategic landscape. Nonetheless, NATO is still menaced by a regressive Russia and must implement an appropriate deterrence and defence policy. In enhancing its forward posture, NATO today faces similar concerns—the readiness and reliability of Allies, the credibility of extended nuclear deterrence, and capability shortfalls—to those it encountered in the Cold War.