ABSTRACT
Widespread dissemination of the basic tenets of military doctrine is an established Kremlin policy. Dissemination takes many forms: The press, radio, television, and lectures are the most common. Material relating to military doctrine is found in Soviet publications of all types—newspapers, journals, and books—published under the auspices of many organizations and groups. Military doctrine will be specifically mentioned in only a dozen or so books published annually. Using an encyclopedia as a basic source for research on military doctrine ordinarily would not be considered by serious scholars. The Soviet military press began publishing a series of books designated the Library of the Commander in the 1920s. Since the 1960s a number of Western scholars have argued that ideology is dead in the Soviet Union and that the Soviet leadership no longer takes Marxism-Leninism seriously. There are a number of other methods by which changes in the military policies of the Party are communicated to military personnel.
