A Cold War lesson: give back as good as you get

What naval lessons from the first Cold War apply to a more aggressive new rivalry?

Respond firmly and proportionately, while trusting commanders on the spot to prevent repeated probing from becoming a new normal.

The Cold War is presented as a rivalry that changed form rather than simply ending, and its adversaries are not treated as passive. The central lesson is to give back as good as one receives without abandoning judgement. That balance makes local command important because distant rules cannot anticipate every encounter. Commanders must be trusted to calibrate incidents so opponents do not learn that they can keep pushing without consequence.