PRESS RELEASE

Putin Signs New Russian Military Doctrine

Dec. 26, 2014 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the new Russian military doctrine today. According to Russian media reports, the core of the doctrine remains unchanged, that is, the Russian military remains a defensive tool to be used only as a last resort, and that the purpose of the nuclear forces is to deter potential enemies from attacking Russia, while leaving open the possibility of using them to protect itself from a military attack, either nuclear or conventional, that threatens its existence.

The main external threat to Russia identified in the new doctrine is NATO’s military buildup and expansion eastwards. The U.S./NATO effort to build a global missile defense system, and the U.S. implementation of its prompt global strike doctrine, are also identified as global strategic threats.

The other updates to the doctrine, as spelled out in a Dec. 19 report by the Russian Security Council, include the emergence of new threats to security in northern Africa, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Domestically, Russia faces threats of

"actions aimed at violent change of the Russian constitutional order, destabilization of the political and social environment, disorganization of the functioning of governmental bodies, crucial civilian and military facilities and informational infrastructure of Russia,"

the doctrine says, according to Russia Today.

"The emergence or the hotbeds of inter-ethnic and/or inter-religious tensions, the operations of militarized international radical groupings and foreign private military companies in the areas adjoining the borders of the Russian Federation and its allies, as well as the presence of territorial contradictions and a growth of

separatism/extremism in separate regions of the world," the doctrine adds, according to TASS.

According the RT report, Moscow sees its participation in the BRICS, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and others as key to preventing military conflicts.