ABSTRACT
A major factor determining this geostrategic shrinking of the Mediterranean and the deep political and military transformations in the area is the qualitative and quantitative build-up of the air and naval forces of the coastal countries. However, in the Mediterranean the build-up of the air and naval forces of the riparian countries appears to carry with it even wider-ranging implications. What emerges from the frame of reference is that the Mediterranean is an area divided into a number of different “tension zones”. In the Mediterranean, naval forces have often been used by both the superpowers and the coastal countries. The prospect of air and naval forces actually being used has taken on new dimensions in recent years, especially in the Mediterranean, owing to the development of new technologies. The European countries of the Mediterranean no longer relate their security needs exclusively or principally to the new and heightened threat posed by the Soviet Union.
