Russian Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, and Future - Strategic ...

• large-scale conflicts such as World Wars I and
II.
Although U.S. defense officials briefed their Russian
colleagues in advance about the content of the recently
released U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR),
Russian doctrinal writers appear not to have taken
the other’s declaratory doctrine into account when
composing the Russian text. Whereas the current Russian
Military Doctrine basically describes U.S. actions
as threatening Russia, the QDR characterizes Russia
as a potential partner with the United States against
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation,
terrorism, and ballistic missile threats. We thus have
a conceptual asymmetry in which Russian defense
planners are preoccupied with hypothetical U.S. and
NATO threats while American strategists are seeking
Moscow’s help in winning the war in Afghanistan as
well as countering international terrorists, states, and
proliferation concerns.
The 2010 Military Doctrine affirms that:
The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear
weapons in response to the use of nuclear and
other types of weapons of mass destruction against it
and (or) its allies, as well as in response to large-scale
aggression utilizing conventional weapons in situations
critical to the national security of the Russian
Federation. 17
Similarly, the 2010 Military Doctrine affirms Moscow’s
readiness to employ nuclear weapons only in retaliation
for the use of nuclear or other WMD against
Russia or its allies. It also allows Russia to initiate the
employment of nuclear weapons first when a conventional
attack by an aggressor proves so effective that
375