ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Soviet nuclear weapon deployments and some prominent Western interpretations of Soviet armament policy. The Soviet view of nuclear war is one of the most contested subjects in the international security arena. The division of Soviet doctrine into political and military-technical categories indicates that although deterrence is based on the ability to wage war successfully, the Soviet leadership, like that of the United States, views deterrence as a political phenomenon. During the war, military doctrine withdraws somewhat into the background because in armed conflict they are guided primarily by military-political and military-strategic considerations and by the conditions of a specific situation. The history of Soviet intermediate nuclear force deployments reflects the continuing Soviet concern with regional military balances on the USSR's periphery, a concern alien to the American postwar strategic experience. The trend in Soviet/Warsaw Pact exercise patterns appears to be in the direction of more robust conventional capabilities.
