Both deliberation and investment in national security were deemed counter-productive and anachronistic. Yet, Russia under Yeltsin grew not only poor but also powerless. In Kosovo and elsewhere, the West has treated Russian national security with an indifference bordering on contempt. The explosive debate in Moscow indicates that the new Russian president is succeeding in reviving the notion that Russia requires a national security policy. The outcome of this debate will define not just policy, but how Russia views its place in the world.
Nuclear weapons constitute less an instrument of war than a measure of Russia's self-image.
The debate over them and the way that Moscow constitutes its forces in the coming years will reflect whether Russia intends only to be a great power or whether it aspires, again, to the status of superpower. The definition of each is more complex than it seems at first blush. The Soviet Union saw itself as a superpower. Another definition of superpower lies in the ability to strike globally. Although the Soviets had nuclear weapons during the 1950s, they did not have an intercontinental delivery system until the mid-1960s.