Soviet Views of Escalation/Limited War

Abstract

Soviet political and military leaders and analysts alike have devoted extensive thought and study to the problem of escalation in modern warfare. As Soviet leaders and analysts see it, escalation is integrally linked to other military issues such as the nature of war, the probable length of conflict, deterrence and the static and dynamic military capabilities of the combatants. However, in this chapter the author will examine only three of the most fundamental questions that the Soviets address when they discuss escalation, namely:

if a conventional conflict breaks out between the United States and the Soviet Union, will it escalate to the nuclear level?

if one or a few nuclear weapons are used in a US-USSR conflict, will the conflict escalate to a central nuclear exchange?

what are the dangers of local wars (or as they are more commonly called today, regional conflicts) escalating to a US-Soviet war, nuclear or otherwise?