SOVIET STRATEGIC DOCTRINE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRATEGIC CONCEPT FOR EXTERNAL FORCE PROJECTION

This study examines the growth of the "external function" of Soviet armed forces according to Soviet military doctrine. It evaluates the role of the "external function" in the development of Soviet strategic doctrine and, in doing so, considers the definitional problems encountered in the analysis of Soviet strategic concepts. The objective is to understand better the thinking (doctrine) and direction (leadership) which underlie Soviet military development, particularly in the area of power projection (the "external function" of the Soviet armed forces).;Soviet military doctrine did not consider strategic issues which were not limited to the decisiveness of nuclear weapons until after war began to be considered in four dimensions: nuclear, non-nuclear, worldwide, and local. The increasing need for Soviet ability to project power worldwide was responsible for the doctrinal shift in emphasis from worldwide nuclear war to non-nuclear local war. This emphasis became evident with the introduction of such familiar Soviet slogans as "national liberation." Local war became an important focal point to Soviet strategic doctrine.;According to the Soviet interpretation of the word "strategic," what is strategic relates to the nation's military, economic, and political power and to its ability to control the course of military and political events. Conditioned by a variety of postwar experiences, the Soviet strategic leadership is now more institutionally prepared to arrive at appropriate doctrinally prescriptive formulas for achieving strategic objectives. Because military power is the most important element to continuity in Soviet military doctrine, strategic objectives are dependent on the appropriate use of military power. . . . (Author's abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of author.) UMI.;Within the framework of Soviet military thought there is a hierarchy of levels of thought which are not easily compared to Western concepts of military thought. These levels are doctrine, strategy, science, and art, and are carefully defined within the hierarchy of Soviet military thought. Soviet military doctrine is a complex political-economic synthesis which determines overall policy according to needs of future war. Marxism-Leninism provides Soviet military leaders with a framework with which to evaluate the requirements of Soviet military policy. According to their view, war is a political instrument for achieving political objectives.