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#32 - JRL 2009-234 - JRL Home
Russian pundits slam suggested concept of preventive nuclear strike
Interfax

Moscow, 22 December: The failure of the reform of the Armed Forces became the main reason for the concept of a preventive nuclear strike, which is contained in the draft of the new military doctrine of Russia, developed by a committee of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, said the head of the Centre for International Security of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Aleksey Arbatov.

"I think that it was only due to desperation caused by the failure to reform the Army and Navy that the concept of preventive nuclear strike appeared in the new Russian military doctrine, which Russia could supposedly launch if there is a threat to it statehood. Launching first a nuclear strike against states which possess nuclear weapons is a suicide while launching a strike of this kind against non-nuclear states is pointless," Arbatov said on Tuesday (22 December) at a briefing in Moscow, which was dedicated to the presentation of a new report by an international commission, linked to the reduction of the nuclear threat.

For his part the chief researcher of the Centre for International Security of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Professor Vladimir Dvorkin, suggests that in the final version of the new military doctrine the point about launching a preventive nuclear strike may be excluded.

"I suggest waiting until the military doctrine of Russia is officially published and then judging its contents, including the infamous concept of a preventive nuclear strike. It is quite possible that the official edition would not contain this rather contentious section," Dvorkin said.

He noted that "the current military doctrine of Russia does not differ from other doctrines in the military sphere as far as the issues of nuclear weapons are concerned".

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