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Conventional Arms in Soviet Foreign Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

David D. Finley
Affiliation:
Professor of Political Science at The Colorado College in Colorado Springs
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Abstract

Military relations between the United States and the Soviet Union over the past decade exhibit an apparent paradox: professed mutual interests in parity yielding in practice to a competitive military buildup. The paper examines four hypothetical explanations—denoted respectively as the hypotheses of mirage, momentum, victory, and spillover—in the context of conventional military force development. While certain valid elements are identified in each hypothesis, the author concludes that it is the appeal of spillover, the non-fighting functions of conventional military advantage, which despite a mixed payoff may be regarded as the most significant determinant of Soviet behavior. The evolution of force levels and military budgets, and the political purposes and activities of the U.S.S.R. in the First and Third Worlds, provide the data for analysis.

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Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1980

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