Soviet/Russian Nuclear Strategy, 1950-2020 (2022.09)
- Author : Iordanka Alexandrova, Sunwoo Paek
- Publication : Korean Journal of International Relations
- Publisher : The Korean Association Of International Studies
- Volume : 62(3)
- Date : September 2022
Abstract : This article examines the changes in Russia’s nuclear strategy from the Cold War to present day. In the 1950s and mid-1960s, the only strategy available to the Soviet Union was asymmetric escalation relying on nuclear first use. From 1965 to the end of the Cold War, Moscow adopted assured retaliation strategy threatening nuclear reprisal to deter nuclear attacks. During the post-Cold War period from 1991 to 2010, it reverted to a strategy of asymmetric escalation. Since 2010, however, Russia’s strengthened conventional power has enabled it to begin a turn back to assured retaliation. These shifts in Moscow’s nuclear strategy have been determined by changes in the Soviet Union/Russia’s military capabilities and Soviet/Russian leadership’s strategic thinking about the usefulness of nuclear weapons in war. The article calls into question the view that Russia has adopted a brinkmanship strategy characterized by a low nuclear threshold.