Download or read book The State of Western Research on Soviet Military Strategy and Policy written by Benjamin S. Lambeth and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Note reviews Western research on Soviet military thought, with special emphasis on Soviet doctrine and its impact on Soviet force planning and behavior. It traces the evolution of the field since the 1950s; examines the ongoing debate over major issues regarding the Soviet military challenge; discusses problems of evidence and interpretation as they apply to Soviet military research; and suggests new directions for the field. It is the overall character of the Soviet threat, not Soviet doctrine in isolation, that inspires the most heated contention in the current national security debate. Although some of this contention revolves about legitimate differences over the meaning of ambiguous data, it stems for the most part from conflicting a priori assumptions about the Soviet Union. Key words include: Military strategy.