ABSTRACT
Surprising changes are occurring in Soviet military policy, developments that raise fundamental questions about the nature of the Soviet political system as well as about the Soviet military threat. This chapter looks at six categories that have the virtue of being comprehensive and providing a proper context for analyzing Soviet military policy. The first category is foreign policy, which military policy reflects and supports. Second, there is military strategy, which relates to the ways in which military power is used to attain specific objectives. Closely related to military strategy is military doctrine. A fourth category is military manpower policy. Military industry is the fifth category. The last category comprises all aspects of military organization, from the highest command levels and their relation to the political authorities, down to small-unit tables of organization and equipment. It is the questioning of the conscription and universal service system that has upset the military leadership the most.
