SCEEUS Guest Report No. 4
Introduction
In May 2025, the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs gathered a group of leading specialists and researchers focusing on various dimensions of Russian security and military affairs. The conference, “The Future Russian Way of War”, was organized around four broad themes: 1) state mobilisation; 2) nuclear deterrence; 3) military reform; and 4) hybrid tools.
Part 2: Nuclear deterrence
This is the second installment to be published from the conference, centered around its second theme, nuclear deterrence. It contains two papers. The first paper, by William Alberque, a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Pacific Forum, deals with Russian nuclear doctrine, with a particular emphasis on non-strategic nuclear weapons – that is, weapons designed for strikes at the tactical (battlefield) and operational (theater) ranges. The second paper, by Aleksandr Golts, an analyst at the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies at the Swedish Institute for International Affairs, discusses the concept of ‘extended deterrence’. In the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war, he argues, Russia’s political leadership has come to interpret nuclear deterrence more broadly. Nuclear weapons are now used more proactively, to help Russia resolve any international conflicts on its own terms.
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About the Authors
