The Protracted Conflict

Excerpt from “1970: Year of Breakthroughs in the Struggle against Imperialism,” year-end report prepared by the Secretariat of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1) From the global standpoint, the primary development of 1970 was our attainment of a position of over-all equality in strategic armament. We now surpass the imperialist camp in number of land-based intercontinental missiles, and far surpass its level in total power of ICBM warheads. Although the enemy’s sea-borne missiles still exceed ours, our undersea missile carriers are rapidly expanding in number and capability. Already they are able to maintain patrols along both North American coasts. His strategic aircraft also exceed ours in number and effectiveness, but they are diminishing in numbers and aging, and are vulnerable to our defense systems. The two camps are at varying stages in the development of newer systems: antimissile defense, multiple re-entry warheads, orbital systems etc. But even if it is granted that the enemy’s total strategic capability is still somewhat more powerful than our own, the remaining disparity is not enough to constitute a strategically significant difference. The two strategic arms are now of the same order. The enemy’s generation of strategic superiority, and thus the era of imperialist blackmail, is ended. His failure to exploit that superiority while he enjoyed it is one more proof of the decadence of imperialism.

JB

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James Burnham

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Excerpt from “1970: Year of Breakthroughs in the Struggle against Imperialism,” year-end report prepared by the Secretariat of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1) From the global standpoint, the primary development of 1970 was our attainment of a position of over-all equality in strategic armament. We now surpass the imperialist camp in number of land-based intercontinental missiles, and far surpass its level in total power of ICBM warheads. Although the enemy’s sea-borne missiles still exceed ours, our undersea missile carriers are rapidly expanding in number and capability. Already they are able to maintain patrols along both North American coasts. His strategic aircraft also exceed ours in number and effectiveness, but they are diminishing in numbers and aging, and are vulnerable to our defense systems. The two camps are at varying stages in the development of newer systems: antimissile defense, multiple re-entry warheads, orbital systems etc. But even if it is granted that the enemy’s total strategic capability is still somewhat more powerful than our own, the remaining disparity is not enough to constitute a strategically significant difference. The two strategic arms are now of the same order. The enemy’s generation of strategic superiority, and thus the era of imperialist blackmail, is ended. His failure to exploit that superiority while he enjoyed it is one more proof of the decadence of imperialism.