Rethinking the Role of Soviet Military Power

Abstract

This paper examines the changing role of the Soviet military and the military instrument in the Soviet system. It begins by identifying traditional Soviet foreign policy objectives and how they have changed under Gorbachev. In turn, these foreign policy shifts have played a part in redefining the role of the Soviet military. Changes in the General Staff's agenda are then examined, followed by an overview of the implications of the nationalities problem for the Soviet military. As the Soviet system faces a challenging time of change, the military must determine how it will participate in this change. This paper offers several alternative futures for the Soviet Union, with particular attention focused on the resultant alternative roles for Soviet foreign and security policy. This paper also argues that the security debates in the USSR, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe will all affect each other. Within the Soviet Union, the most important debate is the one between the Union and the Republics. The challenges for the West is to develop new approaches to our involvement in these security debates.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1991
Accession Number
ADA273651

Entities

People

  • Robbin F. Laird
  • Susan L. Clark

Organizations

  • Institute for Defense Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Alliances
  • Communists
  • Communities
  • Eastern Europe
  • Economic Development
  • Europe
  • Governments
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • Political Movements
  • Political Systems
  • Republic
  • Revolutions
  • United States
  • Ussr
  • Western Europe

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union