[lbo-talk] Reagan, Arms Race and Collapse of Soviet Union

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Wed Mar 10 13:36:07 PST 2004



> Can anyone point me to reasonably accurate numbers
> regarding Soviet military spending in that period?
> What has been the response of the Right when
> confronted with this matter?

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/foreign/reagrus.htm

http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com/seessayx.htm

It is not clear whether any national estimates specifically tackled the question of the portion of the Soviet economy devoted to military expenditures. CIA studies dealing with the issue included Soviet and U.S. Defense Activities: A Dollar Cost Comparison 1971-80 (1980), Estimated Soviet Defense Spending in Rubles, 1970-1975 (May 1976), Estimated Soviet Defense Spending: Trends and Prospects (June 1978), and Soviet and U.S. Investment in Intercontinental Attack Forces, 1960-1980 (1981). The June 1978 study examined spending by resource category, by service, for intercontinental and regional forces (broken down into forces subject o SALT II limitations, Soviet forces in NATO Guidelines Area, and forces along the Sino-Soviet border), and prospects. An appendix discussed methodology and the CIA's degree of confidence in the estimates.

http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-12888.html Defense Spending In 1988 military spending was a single line item in the state budget, totaling 21 billion rubles (for value of the ruble--see Glossary), or about US$33 billion. Given the size of the military establishment, however, the actual figure was at least ten times higher. Western experts have concluded that the 21 billion ruble figure reflects only operations and maintenance costs. Other military spending, including training, military construction, and arms production, may be concealed within the budgets of all-union ministries and state committees. The amount spent on Soviet weapons research and development was an especially well-guarded state secret. Since the mid-1980s, the Soviet Union has devoted between 15 and 17 percent of its annual gross national product ( GNP--see Glossary) to military spending, according to United States government sources. Until the early 1980s, Soviet defense expenditures rose between 4 and 7 percent per year. Since then, they have slowed as the yearly growth in Soviet GNP slipped to about 3 percent. In 1987 Gorbachev and other party officials discussed the extension of glasnost' to military affairs through the publication of a detailed Soviet defense budget. In early 1989, Gorbachev announced a military budget of 77.3 billion rubles, but Western authorities estimated the budget to be about twice that.

Wojtek



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