Russian President, Vladimir Putin today promised a nuclear weapons system completely unlike that of any other state.
"I am sure that … they will be put in service within the next few years and, what is more, they will be developments of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have,” Putin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.
Putin reportedly said: "International terrorism is one of the major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield, other threats may occur.”
This follows the Defence Ministry’s claim in March that it had a
"revolutionary" weapon that would make the prospective U.S. missile defense useless
I reckon they’ve just dusted off one of their old suitcase bombs.
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I’ve been hearing this on the news and I’m somewhat confused. Why would Putin want to override our missle defense? I thought Russia and the U.S. were at least not hostile to each other. What is this, another contest of weapons? Please keep writing about this issue so that I may be more enlightened. I have bookmarked your site.
Thanks for the compliment, KR, and the question. You’ve given me an idea for a post on the underlying motives driving Russia’s foreign policy. But, for now, here is the short version…
Russia and the US aren’t hostile to each other at the moment. But, fifteen years ago they were, and fifteen years into the future they might be again. The basic goal of any state is to defend its citizens, and it is prudent to make sure that, if the world situation changes at some point in the future a state has the ability to defend itself if necessary.
Unfortunately, the cost and complexity of today’s military technology means that weapons systems must be developed years, decades even, in advance of their anticipated use. If Russia were not to develop new weaponry now, it would not be able to do it at short notice fifteen years into the future.
Russia also must consider that it may face enemies other than the US. If the US can build a missile shield, then what is to stop China developing one at some stage?
This is the basic logic behind Russian foreign and security policy and, to be honest, the foreign policy of every other state in the world, including the US.
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