But there is more involved here than Russian domestic considerations. He said that a definite shift is taking place. It is a shift toward an increased willingness on Russia's part to wage nuclear war. Pry's warning should not be ignored. Russia's leaders have openly admitted that the nuclear threshold has been lowered.
Some military experts tend to dismiss the Russian threat.
But the Russians have always been experts at hiding their true strength. With a new class of road mobile ICBMs, camouflage and concealment assumes an even greater importance. We learned from the Y2K rollover that Russia's preparations are more long term. Some of us worried because Russia's more recent deployments and mobilizations had deadlines of December 1999. But now we see that these preparations may have been intermediate steps in a slower, more gradual buildup of strength.