For Russia, new nuclear weapons, but no new arms race

fter testing the patience of much of the international community, particulary the United States, North Koreans did something off a turn just before the Olympics in South Korea. Months of nuclear tensions, spiced up with insults and direct threats, somewhat unexpectedly lead to a thaw between South and North and then to Kim Jong-Un inviting the US president for talks, which Donald Trump accepted. But then, maybe it was all just part of a North Korean plan.

North Korean regime is not irrational and there are good reasons for pursuing a nuclear program, with balistic missiles capable of reaching targets in the US included. A strong deterent can stop an aggressive foe in its tracks, preventing a war and what is a stronger deterent than a nuclear bomb on top of a balistic missile? North Korean conventional forces are slowly loosing their edge, as their country can’t afford the investments to even keep up with the South, let alone with United States, so weapons off mass destruction can serve as a shield and keep the regime in place. All the threats aside, a US attack on North Korea could come with a heavy price. Millions of dead on the peninsula and a US city lost in a nuclear attack. What good would it then be to Washington, if they could erase North Korea from the map, if they would have to content with severe destruction on their own soil? Would it be worth it? Not really.

It seem that the Russian president Vladimir Putin recently did something similar. In a speech to the country’s political elite he presented new weapons, with which he assured Russians could beat any US anti balistic missile shield, therefore maintaining mutual assured destruction. Russian nuclear forces allready are capable of obliterating Unites States and vice versa, with new balistic missiles and even underwater drones carrying nuclear weapons to US coastal cities, that becomes even more clear. His announcement came with comments from the western media, Russia was starting a new arms race, yet, it seems, the opposite is the fact. After getting reelected at the presidential elections on 18 th of March, Putin declared that defence spending has been cut for this and the next year, as Russia allready has all it needs and the focus would be on internal issues. ‘First of all we must ensure the growth rate for the economy and make it an innovative one. We must develop healthcare, education, industrial production, infrastructure and other branches that are crucial for moving our country forward and increasing the living standards of our citizens… Workforce productivity is a key issue. Let us work on this agenda together!’ Putin said.

Surprising? Only if you believe Putin is working on restoring the Soviet empire and bringing the United States to their knees. Which is definitely not the case. Russia might be a superpower, but it is one which in the long term can’t compete with United States, let alone with China, as its population and economy are too small to support massive armed forces. Even more, investing to much into armed forces today, puts a strain on the economy and prevents more could be invested tomorow.

It makes perfect sense for Putin to declare Russia has all kinds of new weapons, and the turn around and tend to the economy. This way, a shield is built, preventing a war, or at least additional military pressure, as war becomes unrealistic for even the bigest warmongers in United States. If in case of war with North Korea they would risk one city, in case of war with Russia, they would risk total destruction. To maintain this mutual assured destruction, Russians have just to invest adequate means into their nuclear forces, not at the same participating in a huge conventional arms build up.

Ofcourse, these days wars are not waged only with tanks and guns, but also with sanctions and propaganda or even in the sport arena, like we have seen with the case of Russian athletes at the Olympics prohibited from attending under the Russian flag. That’s precisely the reason, why a country like Russia must grow its economy and fight poverty. Otherwise it can easily become vulnerable to all kinds of foreign agitations. Not to say, that tending to the welfare of the people first, then dreaming up massive military projects, is the way to go. Even in a world so imperfect as ours.