Outline the main features of Russian nuclear strategy in the post-Cold War era

Authors Avatar

Outline the main features of Russian nuclear strategy in the post-Cold War era

The evolution of present Russian nuclear strategy can be traced through the post- World War II epoch of Soviet- U.S. nuclear arms race. According to Greg Sheridan we can find ourselves in a new era of international relations- the post-Cold War era. This new period is characterised by bilateral efforts and disarmament agreements (for example the START treaties) and ‘strategic drift and entropy’ (Sheridan, 2002: 27) between the United States and Russia. The collapse of the Soviet Union had caused a ‘global transformation and shift in power’ (Hartle & Sikonen, 1991: 215) and as a result the new, democratic Russian Federation emerged in 1991. Although this new state is a regional superpower, it is only a great power in the multipolar contemporary international system, but it is still regarded by United States as the only compatible country which could as its adversary cause the unaccepted damage in a single-large scale nuclear attack (Wallander, 2002: 25).  The future relationship between these nuclear superpowers will play the key-role in international relations, especially in the spheres of international security, crisis management, nuclear strategy and maintenance of global stability. It is necessary that in today’s era of ‘global insecurity’ (Podvig, 2000: 12) Russian Federation and the United States join hands and build the mutual confidence, in order to effectively deal with numerous issues such as the arms control, further nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, post-Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty policies and international terrorism.

The Soviet Union had entered the ‘nuclear-armed crowd’ (Albert Wohlstetter’s definition, found in Dvorkin, 1999: 22) in 1949, as its nuclear evolution started soon after United States successfully launched nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These antagonistic countries, the United States with capitalist mindset and the Soviet Union with communist ideology, feared and opposed each other, and were seeking security in nuclear weapons build-up. Their Cold-War nuclear strategies were underlined by ‘the logic of deterrence’ (Hartle & Sikonen, 1991: 210).  The race for military supremacy led to excessive production of weapons such as atomic and hydrogen bombs, strategic bombers, ballistic missiles, ICBMs (Inter-continental ballistic missiles) and multiple warheads (McCain, 1989: 13). Although there was a lack of mutual confidence and constant fear of possible nuclear confrontation, soft politics has overweight the hard, and the realist paradigm proved to be true- this bipolarity preserved the international stability.

Stalin was the first to recognize the need for strategic planning, with emphasis on military planning and buffer zone (Yasmeen, 2002: 6). The policy of Bulgarin and Krushchev emphasised nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles, however the strategy of the Soviet Union was the one of minimal deterrence (Yasmeen, 2002: 6). Although Brezhnev recognised the large number of accumulated nuclear weapons, the ICBM program was continued, and by mid-seventies the Soviet Union surpassed the United States in the number of ICBMs (Yasmeen, 2002: 6). The SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) policies, ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) and NPT (Non-proliferation) treaties were the attempts to limit production of nuclear weapons. This was the sign of gradual cooperation and trust building between the two nuclear superpowers, which led the path towards a greater progress in their relationship in the post-Cold War era.

Join now!

 During the tumultuous and uncertain period following the break-up of the Soviet Union, American and Russian nuclear policymakers recognized the need to make some new and important measures in order to decrease the amount of accumulated nuclear weapons in their arsenals (figure 1.) In July 1991, Presidents Bush and Gorbachev agreed to withdraw tens of thousands of forward-deployed tactical nuclear weapons. On this occasion they have signed the START-I (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) with the final aim to ensure parity in the number of nuclear warheads of these two countries. For the first time, decisions were made on physical ...

This is a preview of the whole essay