Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO.pdf - Program on Strategic ...

tation to maintain security <strong>and</strong> defense of the state’s
national interests along its Far Eastern borders from a
hypothetical enemy. 54
When asked about the opponent that drove these
vignettes, General Makarov replied:
We did not look at any particular country <strong>and</strong> did not
look at any particular enemy. We are talking about
what direction we will create our own operationalstrategic
situation in the course of which somewhere
a group of terrorists or large group of separatists are
active, which is quite characteristic for low-intensity
conflicts. For instance, we selected such scenarios. 55
Looking at the various episodes that made up the
scenario for Vostok 2010, one could conclude that the
Eastern strategic direction has its own peculiar risks
for Russia. The refugee scenario pointing at North
Korea highlights the instability of that regime <strong>and</strong> the
likelihood of conflict developing from its disintegration
or from its desperate acts to sustain its position.
Fear that a U.S.-Chinese conflict in the wake of the
collapse of North Korea would impose difficult strategic
choices upon Moscow has been a regular theme
of press commentary on Korea. The sharp exchange
between Moscow <strong>and</strong> Tokyo over the exercise in the
disputed Kuril Isl<strong>and</strong>s highlights the troubled state of
Russo-Japanese relations <strong>and</strong> brings into strategic calculations
the U.S.-Japanese Treaty of Mutual Cooperation
<strong>and</strong> Security. 56 Just as President Medvedev was
visiting the nuclear cruiser PetrVelikii (Peter the Great)
to observe a mock naval battle <strong>and</strong> amphibious l<strong>and</strong>ing,
naval officers there informed the news media that
the tactical problem of the exercise was the destruction
of “an American squadron” <strong>and</strong> that the probable
145