Soviet Military Policy: An International Security Reader

Soviet military policy has been one of the most important and perplexing issues confronting the United States since 1945. Mikhail Gorbachev’s foreign policy innovations have focused renewed attention on these vital questions. In this timely reader, ten experts on the Soviet Union offer their perspectives on Soviet military strategy and defense policy, covering the foreign policy context, nuclear weapons, conventional forces, and force and Soviet diplomacy. Contents: Richness, Rigor, and Relevance in the Study of Soviet Foreign Policy. The Sources of American Conduct: Soviet Perspectives and their Policy Implications. The Gorbachev Revolution: A Waning of Soviet Expansionism? The Sources and Prospects of Gorbachev’s New Political Thinking on Security. Mutual Deterrence and Strategic Arms Limitation in Soviet Policy. Contrasts in American and Soviet Strategic Thought. Deterrence and Coercion in Soviet Policy. The Soviet Union and Strategic Missile Guidance. Stalin’s Postwar Army Reappraised. The Soviet Offensive In Europe: The Schlieffen Plan Revisited? Limiting Offensive Conventional Forces: Soviet Proposals and Western Options. Contributors: Jack Snyder, Franklyn Griffiths, Stephen M. Meyer, Raymond L. Garthoff, Fritz W. Ermarth, Dimitri K. Simes, Donald MacKenzie, Matthew A Evangelista, and Richard Ned Lebow.