Controlling Nuclear Weapons and Preventing Arms Proliferation in the Former Soviet Union
Abstract
The disintegration of the former Soviet Union is often celebrated in the West as a victory of democratic ideals and institutions over a repressive communist regime. The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union is definitely worth heralding. but it's important to note that the creations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) imposes new challenges on the West. These challenges are abundant and they fall into all the categories that impact Western interests: economic, political and national security. Looking specifically at national security interests, the West needs to pay close attention to current CIS military capabilities particularly the status of centralized control over CIS nuclear forces and the drawdown of those forces. Equally important is the need to monitor an emerging tendency for CIS states to market military capabilities abroad. This paper will analyze both of these issues and argue that the United States must take the lead in ensuring the CIS acts responsibly in confronting the issues of nuclear control, nuclear drawdown and proliferation of weapons and military technology. With the break-up of the Soviet Union and a general relaxation in east-west tensions, there is some sentiment within the United States to take a less active role in world affairs. The relatively poor condition of the United States' economy exacerbates this tendency towards a new era of semi-isolationism. while we must put our domestic house in order, we cannot ignore the ramifications of a CIS that possesses poor centralized control over nuclear forces and is prone to proliferate nuclear and conventional weapons. The most important outcome of the Soviet Union's collapse is the fact that the resultant fifteen independent states exist in an environment that is very unstable. The former Soviet Union operated under extremely centralized control which suppressed historic ethnic, nationalist and religious tensions. The centralized control is now gone, but the tensions are not.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 25, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA440874
Entities
People
- Todd Bodenhamer
Organizations
- National War College