'Perestroika', The Revolution Continues: A Reform Package to Enhance Military Power.

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPSU, Mikhail Gorbachev, is leading an effort to reform the Soviet economy and increase efficiencies throughout the society, the government, and the military. At the same time, he is actively conducting talks with the United States to reduce nuclear forces while making overtures of possible conventional force reductions. This paper seeks to examine the motivation for his conduct in both domestic affairs and foreign policy. It offers a brief glance at the historical development of Soviet strategic culture and how that culture affects the Soviet leaderships use of the non-military instruments of power for national security. Historical and cultural influences have engrained into the Soviet leadership and population the belief that a significant weakening of the military will increase the risks of an armed attack on their country. Such an attack could result in devastation similar to that of World War II. History and culture have taught the Soviet citizen to endure adversity for the sake of a strong military and hence national security. The paper makes the case that the military is the instrument which has made the Soviet Union a global power.