Word: preemption
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...punishment which the enemy's nuclear missiles can inflict on one's armed forces--the troops, their command, and their logistic support--is potentially so devastating that no commander can consider deploying them for combat until and unless this threat has been substantially lifted. This, of course, entails preemption, and its literature leaves no doubt that the Soviet Union intends massively to preempt the instant the leadership has arrived at the conclusion that war is unavoidable. In their view, a nuclear first strike plays in modern warfare a role comparable to that performed by rapid mobilization before 1914: the laggard...