The Deterrent Forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States

Abstract

The rapid changes that are occurring in Europe and in the world at large create qualitatively new military and political realities. These realities will force nuclear powers to make major adjustments in their foreign policy and military-technological thinking. The new situation will certainly lead to changes in both the nuclear doctrines of those countries and their approaches to such numerical and quantitative parameters of nuclear forces—both strategic and tactical—as will be needed to ensure national security, This applies fully to the Commonwealth of Independent States (the former USSR), whose nuclear doctrine, like that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is now being overhauled. Yet, identifying the main avenues of this overhaul first requires an understanding of the substance of the nuclear doctrine of the former Soviet Union and the mission of its nuclear forces.