ABSTRACT
A medium maritime power will already, at any given moment, have a maritime power structure. There will be ships, ports, fisheries, naval and air forces. Therefore, the process of planning will not be end-stopped but cyclic. The price of alliance may be the contribution by a medium-power ally of forces: either dedicated to the alliance where they would normally be under national control, or specially provided for alliance purposes where they would not be needed for national tasks. Maritime force requirements for the medium power, then, proceed along two lines: national needs, the forces required by levels-of-conflict and reach considerations for tasks which must be nationally tackled; and the price of alliance, which must take into account all other tradeworthy assets as well as the forces the alliance may demand. The organisation and deployment of maritime military forces is for medium powers a critical concern.
