This weapon called peace: The doctrine and strategy of Soviet arms control and disarmament policy
The strategy of Soviet arms-control and disarmament policy can be summarized in what we have termed the ratchet strategy of peaceful coexistence, in which a strategic advance is achieved through the tactics of multiple and indirect lines of approach, legitimized through invocation of peaceful coexistence, and made permanent and irreversible both by treaties and agreements and by the increasing military capability of the Soviet Union and her allies. This strategy is unchanged from World War II until today. Soviet strategic thought is based on the writings of V. I. Lenin; and both Lenin's strategic concepts and Soviet disarmament and arms-control strategy bear a striking resemblance to the precepts expressed by the 4th-century B.C. Chinese strategist Sun Tzu in the Art of War. This dissertation examines not only the strategic content of this policy, but the doctrinal components of Soviet disarmament and arms control strategy. The doctrinal principles must be derived through examination of: authoritative political and strategic writings, records of negotiations and negotiating positions, treaties and agreements, data concerning weapons systems, and the relationship of these to observed political and strategic developments during the period under examination. The doctrinal principles behind this strategy are: (1) the primary purpose of peaceful coexistence is the undermining of imperialism, (2) any means are permissible in the pursuit of peace strategy, and (3) the motive force for this strategy is Marxist-Leninist ideology, with the ultimate goal being the worldwide imposition of socialism in its Soviet variety. Shifts in Soviet policy are tactical instead of strategic in nature; and in keeping with the Soviet idea of the correlation of forces this strategy can be termed a time-fluid two-player zero-sum game. Consequently, Soviet arms-control and disarmament policy can be a weapon called peace.
- Research Organization:
- Duke Univ., Durham, NC (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6906895
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Search for sanity: The politics of nuclear weapons and disarmament
The Soviet view of disarmament