On The Offensive

How do you say "neocons" in Russian? Taking a page from the Bush Administration's playbook, the Kremlin has adopted a national-security policy that includes preemptive military strikes. Russia may even revise its nuclear strategy, unless NATO abandons what the Kremlin calls its "anti-Russian orientation." The statements came at a conference on the reform and development of Russia's armed forces, held in Moscow last week and attended by senior state officials, military brass and national media editors. President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov both spoke at the conference. Ivanov said Russia should be ready to carry out preemptive strikes anywhere in the world its interests require. This is a departure from official Russian military doctrine, which currently calls only for sufficient defensive capability, says Alexander Pikayev, a security analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Putin initiated the policy review last December, soon after Chechen rebels seized a Moscow theater; after a three-day siege, 129 died as Russian special forces used a sedative gas to storm the building. Ivanov now says it would be "irresponsible to confine the armed forces' prerogatives to the realm of external operations," adding that — as Chechnya proves — it's impossible to separate foreign and domestic threats. He also said the Russian military must be prepared to fight "two conflicts of any type" simultaneously, as well as carry out peacekeeping operations anywhere in the world. That's a tall order for a military that can barely handle the one conflict it's already fighting on its own soil.

At the conference, Putin unveiled plans to dust off and deploy SS-19 missiles, known to NATO as "Stilettos" since 1980, to replace Russia's worn-out land-based strategic nuclear arsenal. "I'm speaking here about the most menacing missiles — with hundreds of warheads," he said. "Their capability to overcome any anti-missile defense is unrivaled." Should the world worry? No, says Pikayev. This saber rattling is meant mostly for domestic consumption ahead of December's parliamentary and next year's presidential campaigns.