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 presents six categories that have the virtue of being comprehensive and providing a proper context for analyzing Soviet military policy. The six categories are: foreign policy, military strategy, military doctrine, military manpower policy, military industry, and military organization The chapter discusses a profound transformation in the Soviet military—perhaps even greater than the one in the 1920's that created the basic outlines of the present military, military-political, and military-economic structures. The inherent growing dependency on the military for internal political purposes threatens to halt or reverse the radical attempts at military perestroyka so vigorously pursued under Gorbachev, especially since 1987.