Cold War Veterans Blog

New Russian nuclear missile revives old Cold War memories

The news brief yesterday morning triggered some Cold War memories: ''Russia Successfully Tests New Nuclear Missile.'' Haven't we put the old nuclear tensions aside, the worries about Mutual Assured Destruction?

Tuesday Russia launched a new intercontinental missile capable of carrying multiple warheads. The RS-24 missile's three dummy warhead hit their targets 4,340 miles to the east on the Kamchatka Peninsula. What happened to the arms limitation treaties that had the former Soviet Union and the United States destroying their nuclear arsenals?

A resurgent Russia under outgoing President Vladimir Putin has begun to flex its military muscle once again. Besides restoring some economic luster to his nation, Mr. Putin is also trying to rebuild its eroded military might. Russians love him for it and in part, this is why editors at Time magazine named him their ''Man of the Year.''

U.S. and European foreign policy has allowed Mr. Putin and Russian military leaders to justify their actions as necessary to counter ''western imperialism.'' They don't believe the missile defense system President Bush wants to deploy on their western border in Poland and the Czech Republic is only intended for Iran and North Korea. They think it's aimed at them.

Although, Mr. Putin has used Russia's oil profits to dramatically increase military spending -- to $33.6 billion -- that's a fraction of the $582 billion the United States spent this year. Russia still has 875 missiles and bombers capable of delivering 4,237 warheads. But 60 percent of the missiles are past their service life and require extensive maintenance. (The U.S. nuclear arsenal is 5,914 warheads on 1,225 missiles and bombers.)

The threat isn't so much Russia's military buildup as much as what saber rattling can lead to: continued diplomatic misunderstandings and potent weapons for sale to rogue nations. A new ICBM in Russia's hands isn't as dangerous as in Iran or North Korea's. Smarter diplomacy can defuse this threat better than missile shields.