Part 4: Chapter 13, Hammers or Sickles in Space? Summary and Analysis

By now Americans were realizing that the Soviets had some better technology but none of which gave them a lead or totally destructive capabilities. Sputnik meant they had to make choices since they didn't have the resources of the know-how to do all they wanted. And they functioned under a cloak of secrecy. As McDougall points out, it is not easy to find or to construct Soviet expenditures in these areas. In many cases the figures were hidden in different categories. "To be sure, Soviet strategy can be presumed to derive in part from geography, economy and technology. But all three are in flux (for the third can alter the other two). Soviet strategy is also a function of ideology, which helps to determine the perception of the enemy...