ABSTRACT
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) maritime capabilities, command structure, large-scale exercises and contingency plans reflected the importance of maintaining maritime superiority in the North Atlantic in general and in the North and Norwegian Seas in particular. As Russia started to regain political, economic and military strength, its leadership took more confrontational stance not aligned with Western values and the rule of law. Russia's revised Maritime Doctrine of July 2015 placed specific emphasis on the High North and on assuring access for its forces into the wider Atlantic. This Whitehall Paper explores the renewed importance of the North Atlantic Ocean to NATO's security through the lenses of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway in particular. In short, it constitutes a discourse on how to maintain maritime supremacy in an increasingly complex, contested and challenging environment, presenting multiple views of how NATO members can respond both politically and militarily.
