Russia lowers nuclear threshold

The new policy places greater emphasis on nuclear weaponry

Russia has revised its defence doctrine to make it easier to press the nuclear button in an international crisis.

The new national security concept envisages the use of nuclear weapons if Russia has to repel armed aggression when all other means of resolving the crisis have been exhausted.

Under the previous concept, published in 1997 by former president Boris Yeltsin, Russia said it would resort to nuclear weapons only if its very existence was threatened.

Terrorism

Russia's nuclear arsenal is seen as primarily a deterrent force

The new security strategy has been approved by acting President Vladimir Putin, who will stand in the presidential elections in March.

Officials say it is a sweeping rewrite of the 1997 document, focusing more on fighting terrorism and organised crime.

The 21-page doctrine - in effect in place as government policy - was published on Friday in the weekly military newspaper Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye.

The document - "Concept of National Security" - said a number of states were trying to weaken and marginalise Russia. "The level and scale of threats in the military sphere is growing," it added.

Click here to see a map of Russia's nuclear bases

Other states threaten Russian national security by attempting to oppose the strengthening of Russia as a centre of influence in a multi-polar world

Defence doctrine

The document said Russia was prepared to use ''all forces and equipment at its disposal, including nuclear weapons, if it has to repel armed aggression, if all other means of resolving the crisis have been exhausted or proved ineffective''.

Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal is made up of about 770 intercontinenal ballistic missiles (ICBMs), about 21 nuclear armed submarines (SSBNs) and nuclear bombers.

Social issues

The new nuclear doctrine was part of a wide-ranging review of the problems facing Russia.

The country's leadership has taken a detailed, frank look at economic disintegration, social inequalities and the devaluing of spiritual values.

The document says Russia is threatened by a creeping criminalisation of society that has to be tackled politically as well as legally.

It acknowledges that it is in Russia's interest to maintain its economic links to the outside world and there is no suggestion that it intends to abandon free market principles.

The document identifies sharp differences between rich and poor, unemployment and poverty as obstacles to Russia's status as an important world power.

Balance of power

The BBC's correspondent in Moscow, William Horsley, said the concept underlying the policy document was that the United States must not be seen as the only superpower.

Moscow's favoured option was for a "multi-polar" world in which Russia's voice was backed up by its military arsenal. The document said the current trend was for a "uni-polar" world dominated by the US.

Defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus said Russia's new emphasis on nuclear weapons would encourage arms control advocates to press the Clinton administration to step up its efforts to conclude nuclear disarmament agreements with Moscow.

This, at a time when Washington appeared more interested in developing strategic defences rather than relying on treaties for security.

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