ABSTRACT
A nation's military potential may never be realized without a clearly understood military doctrine or national military policy. The Soviet Armed Forces are guided by a doctrine that was developed in the 1950s and first announced in 1960, over two years before the Cuban missile confrontation of 1962. "The nuclear age demands above all a clarification of doctrine," said Henry Kissinger. With respect to weapons systems, "only a doctrine which defines the purpose of these weapons and the kind of war in which they are to be employed permits a rational choice. Soviet military doctrine and strategy are discussed at length in dozens of Soviet books and in hundreds of articles. Organization of the Soviet Armed Forces and their concepts of command and control often appear to be at variance with practices in the United States armed forces. The growing militarization of the Soviet Union should be of concern both to the non-Communist world and the People's Republic of China.
