What the Second Fleet's return signalled to NATO and Russia
A look back at the US Navy's move, reported on 4 May 2018, to re-establish a fleet disbanded in 2011.
What did it mean when the United States Navy brought back a fleet it had shut down seven years earlier? On 7 May 2018, the question was still fresh: three days before, on 4 May 2018, the Navy had re-established the United States Second Fleet, which was disbanded in 2011.
The stated reason was the recent heightened tensions between NATO and Russia. The Navy cited those tensions in announcing the decision, and the move was reported in that context.
A label for the tension
The episode was placed by some in a wider debate over how to describe relations between the West and Moscow. The terms Second Cold War, Cold War II and New Cold War have been used by scholars and journalists for heightened geopolitical tensions in the 21st century, usually between the United States and NATO on one side and Russia or China on the other. Some commentators have used the terms as a comparison with the original Cold War, while others have discouraged applying them to any ongoing tensions.
The reported facts of 4 May 2018 are narrower than that debate: a fleet disbanded in 2011 was re-established, and tension between NATO and Russia was the reason given.
