The Nordic area is of great strategic importance to NATO, not only for the defence of Norway, Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein but for neighbouring Warsaw Pact countries and their military forces on the Kola Peninsula.

The problems of the region are comprehensively appraised in this study: NATO's first line of maritime defence, land defences in the north, the Soviet naval threat and the Kola fortress, the Baltic's historical and strategic aspects and its complex political background. This booklet demonstrates how, in spite of difficulties, a combination of deterrence and reassurance has worked both to enhance the security of the Alliance's Scandinavian members and to maintain overall stability throughout the Nordic region.