Research for National Military and Defense Policies

The former Soviet nuclear weapons complex has undergone dramatic changes in the months since the failed August coup and the dissolution of the USSR. Strategic and tactical nuclear weapons once under Moscow's control are now in the possession of several member states of the new Commonwealth of Independent States. Some of these Republics have adopted a clear denuclearization policy, but others have not. Addressing a recent seminar at the Center for Naval Analyses, Dr. Rose Gottemoeller of the RAND Corporation and Mr. George Perkovich, Director of the Secure Society Program at the W. Alton Jones Foundation, discussed issues relating to the disposition, control, and clean-up of the former Soviet nuclear arsenal and the implications for U.S. policy.

This research memorandum explores the political effects of U.S. military presence in the Asian-Pacific region. It proposes a framework that outlines the goals of presence and the process through which political effects develop. It then uses this conceptual framework to examine the political effects of presence in the region. This paper surveys U.S. policy objectives in the future security environment in Asia and explores the direct contribution of presence to U.S. policy objectives and the indirect support it gives through bolstering stability. Finally, it notes some implications of the analysis for future U.S. force options in the region. See also 96 005100, 96 005200, and 55 000506.

Since the end of World War II, U.S. Naval forces have played a major role in at least 207 U.S. responses to international incidents and crises, exclusive of the Korean and Vietnam wars. This research memorandum summarizes these U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps crisis management operations. Updates 27 890315.

National security decision-making in the Soviet Union has changed radically under Gorbachev. A key aspect of this change is the emergence of the institutchiki, or civilian academicians from the Soviet Academy of Sciences, as influential experts on defense issues. Previously these civilians had scant impact on the defense decision-making process, which was dominated by the General Staff and professional military cadre. Three developments point in this direction: the increased representation of the civilian experts in state and Party institutions dealing with foreign and security policy; the special role these civilians seem to be playing in developing and promoting Gorbachev's 'new thinking' in foreign and security policy; and, recent decisions that mark a sharp departure from earlier policies and reflect proposals originating with or developed by the institutchiki. This paper documents these trends, chiefly on the basis of articles that have appeared in the Soviet press. It also describes the resistance of the military to some of the new thinking and resultant proposals. The main actors in this unfolding drama include the top military leaders, principally the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff, and the most visible of the institutchiki: those employed by the Institute of the USA and Canada (IUSAC) and the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO).