1989 Reports

Gorbachev and the Military: A Revolution in Security Policy, Too?

Rice, Condoleezza

“It is evident that force and the threat of force can no longer be, and should not be, instruments of foreign policy.... It is clear today that the increase of military force does not make any single power all-powerful. Moreover, a one-sided emphasis on military force, in the final analysis, weakens the other elements of national security.” Statements like the one above are not unusual from Soviet leaders. Usually at times of internal weakness, the Soviets have launched peace campaigns and devalued, at least rhetorically, the use of force and military power. While doing so in words, the reality of Soviet military policy has been quite different. The Soviet Union is a garrison state, possessing enormous military forces acquired at great economic and social cost. Whatever the value of cooperation and short term accommodation to the interests of other states, the Soviet Union has relied on extraordinary military might for security at home and as the primary instrument of policy abroad.