Russian matryoshka politics

Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a revised version of his country's military doctrine on Dec. 26, 2014 to replace the document issued by his predecessor Dmitri Medvedev in February 2010.

Although some might argue that it was just another official document release and changed nothing, it clearly reflects the current perception of Russian authorities regarding the developments in international politics. It is also important in connection with the deteriorating relations between Russia and the West over Ukraine, as well as the crumbling international system.

Even though the new document maintains the core of the previous one, there are important nuances.

The expansion of NATO's military infrastructure toward Russian borders was clearly highlighted as the top military threat in the document, as usual. Other external threats were classified as the destabilization of bordering countries and regions, deployment of foreign military forces on the territory of Russia's neighbors, and the creation and deployment of global strategic antiballistic missile systems, which refers to NATO's new missile defense system and the Prompt Global Strike Concept of the U.S. It seemed that these threats have become more vivid for Russia, especially after its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the ongoing dispute over its activities in eastern Ukraine.

The principles for using nuclear weapons remained unchanged in the revised document; they could be used in an event of aggression against Russia and/or its allies by using weapons of mass destruction or conventional weapons, or in case of "threat to the very existence of the state." This is, of course, a rather open-ended definition of the rules of engagement regarding nuclear weapons.