ABSTRACT
Since the late 1970s, both the declining performance of the domestic economy and the phasing out of détente has prompted the debate over the shrinking economic resources being allocated to the military. Military industry appears to play a very important role—if not the key role—in Gorbachev's policies of economic restructuring. Expressions of concern about the long-term ability of the civilian economy to sustain military competition have appeared in Soviet military publications since the late 1970s. The role of the Soviet military as a political institution has not actually been reduced under Gorbachev, but the dynamics of its internal and external functions have undergone several changes of varying significance. The reduction in preeminence of the image of Soviet military might, as well as the increased importance of the political elements in the military doctrine, does not signify that the USSR's national priorities have changed or that its military has been pushed out of politics by other institutions.
