Military objectives in Soviet foreign policy
The Soviet Union's military developments and the size of its armed forces strongly influence Western assumptions about Soviet foreign policy. The author shows how the need to plan for the contingency of world war has shaped Soviet policy, resulting in a force structure often perceived as far in excess of legitimate defense needs. In this book the motivations underlying Soviet policy are investigated as thoroughly as the military posture is examined. According to the author, a doctrinal decision in late 1966 about the likely nature of a world war resulted in a basic change in Soviet strategic objectives. Corresponding changes occurred in operational concepts, the approach to arms control, and policy in the third world. The necessary restructuring of Soviet forces took place during the 1970s and 1980s. This book identifies the old and new hierarchies of strategic objectives, analyzes the implications of the shift, and deduces the Soviet operational plan for waging world war, should it prove inescapable. This plan explains the structure of Soviet strategic forces and their military posture in Euro-Atlantic, Asian-Pacific, and Indo-Arabian regions. Decisions taken in the 1967-68 and 1976-77 periods explain much of current Soviet policy. However, Soviet-American relations sharply deteriorated between 1978 and 1983. The author also considers the kind of decisions that the Soviets may have taken in recent years in response to these developments.
- OSTI ID:
- 6098170
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
ARMS CONTROL
ASIA
DECISION MAKING
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
EASTERN EUROPE
EUROPE
FOREIGN POLICY
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