Russian Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, and Future

commitment to make Russia into an integrated part of
the Asia-Pacific world. Observing the naval exercise,
Medvedev took time to decorate sailors from the Marshal
Shaposhnikov, who had taken part in the recapture
of the tanker Moscow University and the liberation of
its crew.
Russian commentators have concluded that, in
spite of all the extensive press coverage of the exercise,
the government failed to articulate one message
and stay on point. The military, including the Minister
of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff were set
upon emphasizing the progress made in creating the
“new look” Armed Forces and to disarm critics who
have charged that the Serdyukov reforms had broken
the military. 61 On the other hand, the political leadership
in the person of President Medvedev had as its
primary message Russia’s economic drive for regional
integration as a vital national objective. Medvedev
emphasized the Asia-Pacific region’s continued economic
growth even during the current global economic
crisis, and spoke of Russia’s integration with the
entire Asia-Pacific region and not just the PRC, and
he even listed integration of the Brazil-Russia-India-
China (BRIC) bloc as a national objective. 62
Aleksandr’ Sadchikov described Medvedev’s
policy as “the fourth campaign to the East,” recalling
three earlier campaigns: Russia’s rivalry with England
and France for position in the Far East in the middle of
the 19th century; the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05;
and, the “socialist expansion under the Soviet Union,”
which culminated in the territorial gains achieved as
a result of the August 1945 war against Japan. Sadchikov
made reference to the political forecast made
by Vyacheslav Nikonov about the advantages to Russia
in leaning to the east to escape the pressure of the
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