Soviet Leadership Politics and Leadership Views On The Use of Military Force.

Abstract

The Soviet military doctrinal writings concerning war initiation emphasize the value of preemptive attacks in force carried through to the complete defeat of the enemy. The question is, 'Would this military doctrine agree with the desires of their political leadership as they contemplated the imminent initiation of a war?' An examination of the histories of the various Soviet political leaders reveals a recurrent pattern. A dominent leader is replaced by a small group of collegial successors which, in turn, devolves into an intense competition ending only when one competitor has clearly established dominance. In the dominant leader phase, and in the early days of the collegial competition phase, the aspirants to the top position attempt to enhance their power by building and maintaining a coterie of proteges, at their opponents' expense.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1979
Accession Number
ADA076009

Entities

People

  • W. M. Jones

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Agreements
  • Civil War
  • Combat Forces
  • Combat Operations
  • Doctrine
  • Governments
  • Military Capabilities
  • Military Doctrine
  • Military Operations
  • Operations Research
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Ideologies
  • Political Science
  • United States
  • Ussr
  • War

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Strategic Security Studies