Christoph Bluth presents an original analysis of the buildup of strategic forces from the death of Stalin to the SALT I agreement. The author outlines Soviet strategic arms policy, identifies the principal interest groups involved, and studies a number of critical decisions taken in relation to strategic bombers, ICBMs, strategic nuclear forces based at sea, ballistic missile defense, and the military uses of space. As well as examining external threat assessment and wider foreign policy, the author pays particular attention to the role of domestic factors such as Khrushchev's endeavors to...

Germany and the Future of European Security examines the impact of unification on German foreign and security policy, providing the first comprehensive analysis of how the unified Germany has adapted to the post-Cold War security environment. The book considers the development of Germany's understanding of the European security environment, Germany's national interests, its role in Europe and the international system and the policy instruments at its disposal. This provides a context for testing various views about the future of European security more generally.

This original study based on documents, hitherto not discussed in literature of the Cold War, adds a significant new perspective to an important episode in Cold War History. The subject of this book is the policy of the two Germanies towards the talks on Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR) in Europe during the 1970s. Negotiations on MBFR continued for a long time without progress. There has been much speculatuion about the motivations of the Eastern side. This book makes use of newly declassified files and, for the first time, reveals the true purposes and intentions of the Warsaw...

Christoph Bluth presents an original analysis of the buildup of strategic forces from the death of Stalin to the SALT I agreement. The author outlines Soviet strategic arms policy, identifies the principal interest groups involved, and studies a number of critical decisions taken in relation to strategic bombers, ICBMs, strategic nuclear forces based at sea, ballistic missile defense, and the military uses of space. As well as examining external threat assessment and wider foreign policy, the author pays particular attention to the role of domestic factors such as Khrushchev's endeavors to...

Central Asia and the Caucasus are of immense geopolitical importance for the US and Russia, but neither power has successfully established regional hegemony. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the states of the Caspian region began to develop their oil and gas reserves, and as a result their importance on the international stage is increasing rapidly. Considering the impact of events such as 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iran, alongside issues including national security, energy policies and American ambitions to limit Russian influence, Christopher Bluth explains why the...