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DATE=1/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIAN-SECURITY-US (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-258088
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 
INTRO:  An expert in strategic issues says Russia's 
decision to make it easier to use nuclear weapons is a 
sign of weakness, rather than strength.  But the Cato 
Institute's Ivan Eland says he doubts Moscow and 
Washington will return to Cold War style 
confrontation.  V-O-A's Jim Randle reports.
TEXT:  Russian leaders made it clear they have lowered 
the threshold for using nuclear weapons when they 
published a revised national security policy Friday.
The new plan says Moscow could use its thousands of 
nuclear weapons to "repel armed aggression."  Previous 
plans reserved these ultimate weapons only if the very 
existence of the state was threatened.
Strategic expert Ivan Eland of the private Cato 
institute in Washington says Russian officials made 
the change to counter what they see as U-S domination 
of world affairs.
He says Russia has complained bitterly about expansion 
of NATO eastward toward its borders, the Western 
bombing campaign against Moscow's traditional 
ally, Yugoslavia, and U-S work on missile defenses.
            /// Eland Act ///
      I don't think the Cold War mentality, we will go 
      back to that.  Nor do I think the geostrategic 
      realities are the same as when a powerful Soviet 
      Union was there.  Russia is just a shell of the 
      former Soviet Union, both economically and 
      militarily.  Their military is very run down and 
      this change in nuclear doctrine is a sign of 
      weakness, not a sign of strength.
            /// End Act ///
Meanwhile, the document published in a military 
newspaper in Moscow, says the "level and scale" of 
military threats against Russia is growing.  The 
article says Russia is still important, but says some 
other states are trying to weaken it and make it 
irrelevant to world affairs.
The published document says the current trend is for a 
"unipolar" world dominated by the United States.  It 
says a "multipolar" world with a range of regional 
powers would be better.
/// Opt ///  Officials at the U-S Defense Department 
say they take the issue of Russian nuclear doctrine 
very seriously and that they are reviewing the matter.  
/// End Opt ///
(SIGNED)
NEB/JR/JP
14-Jan-2000 15:29 PM EDT (14-Jan-2000 2029 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.