Research Summaries

Back Russian Views of Deterrence, Escalation, Coercion, and War

Fiscal Year 2021
Division Research & Sponsored Programs
Department NPS Naval Research Program
Investigator(s) Tsypkin, Mikhail
Sponsor Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (Navy)
Summary The research project will address the Russian view of key aspects of great power competition: deterrence, escalation, coercion, and war. Specifically, the project will address the Russian military professional debates on the subjects of deterrence and escalation management, as well as weapon acquisition policies designed to implement Russian approaches to deterrence and escalation management. We will determine the roles of nuclear, conventional and information weapons in Russia's approach to deterrence. Another focus of our research will be the role of nuclear escalation in Russian military strategy, an issue of great concern for U.S. national security. Further, the project will assess opportunities for the U.S. and its allies (particularly NATO) to develop flexible options for deterrence and escalation management. The project will also inquire into the impact of Turkey's increasingly close relationship with Russia, on NATO"s deterrent posture. This research will take a data-driven, qualitative methodological approach. The data will be derived through a rigorous survey of primary Russian language literature, including official documents, official statements, military grey literature, and military analytical reports. For additional primary material, members of the team will also gather elite perspectives through discussions with and publications by subject matter experts in Washington, USSTRATCOM, NATO Headquarters, SHAPE Headquarters, and critical European NATO member and partner nations. The study will be conducted through a team effort. The research deliverables will consist of a report and a PowerPoint briefing addressing the findings concerning the research objectives and questions.
Keywords Deterrence NATO Nuclear Weapons Precision Strike Russia War escalation
Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal