Nuclear weapons

Russia’s nuclear strategy: It’s a trap!

During the Cold War, the United States invested heavily in nuclear weapons to compensate for NATO’s conventional inferiority in Europe. Today the tables have turned: America’s conventional strength far outstrips that of Russia, and the Russians have little prospect of changing the status quo.

The United States allocates roughly $600 billion for its defense budget, over 10 times what Russia spends. And no amount of spending or technological development by Russia is going to alter the fact that the NATO alliance represents more than 900 million people and spends more than $1 trillion on its defense annually.

In the nuclear realm Russia also lags behind the United States. Although the size of Russia’s and America’s nuclear forces are roughly the same, the United States plans to spend $350 billion on its nuclear forces over the next decade. During the same period, Russia will spend roughly $50 billion.