Some problems in Soviet-American war termination : cross/cultural asymmetries

Abstract

The analysis of the process of war termination cannot be understood as a logical one. Cultural preconceptions historically override logic in war. Cultural values manifest themselves as signs and are conveyed through signals. An enormous problem is how to interpret another culture's signals. This paper presents some of the major asymmetries in theories of war and its termination between the U.S. and Soviet Union. It provides a kind of checklist of dangerous misconceptions and their consequences. Applying some of the concepts of political culture to the current state of Soviet military science, it predicts how Soviet military thought will be affected by perestroyka. Using the same techniques, it proposes, for purposes of war termination the creation of a shadow American politburo, a trained group to mirror image ; http://archive.org/details/someproblemsinso00bath ; NA