Britain's Naval Future and the risks of planning for one kind of war

James Cable's 1983 analysis considers proposals to reduce naval roles or concentrate resources on a narrower strategic task. His objection is that these choices restrict the range of situations Britain can respond to, particularly if it gives up an ocean-going navy or concentrates on the nuclear deterrent. Some proposals assume that deterrence on NATO's central front will either preserve peace or fail in a short, total nuclear war. That leaves coercive diplomacy, limited war and prolonged conflict outside the planning assumptions. Cable's criticism concerns which forms of conflict the chosen threat model excludes.