ABSTRACT
East Europe is especially dependent on the Soviet Union for oil, and the Soviets have served notice that there will be no further increases in oil deliveries, which may force the countries to buy on the world market. This chapter examines the nature of the Soviet military threat to Western Europe for the remainder of the decade. It focuses on quantitative as well as qualitative factors in an attempt to understand the likely prospects for and consequences of a Soviet-initiated conflict in Europe. Most Westerners remain concerned over the nature of the Soviet threat and the implications of the continued build-up for Western defense. The impressive quantitative and qualitative improvements in Soviet forces underway are the outgrowth of a long, serious study of military doctrine, operational art, and tactics, especially as these applied to fighting in Central Europe. Moscow’s pressure on its Warsaw Pact Allies to buy Soviet-designed equipment certainly has caused hardships on already-strained economies in Eastern Europe.
