ABSTRACT
The distinction between military doctrine and military science has been strongly emphasized in Soviet writings in the post-Stalin period. Two points about it should be noted. The first is the stress laid on the primacy of Party authority in formulating doctrine. The Party leaders have to take account not only of professional military advice, but also of wider economic and political considerations. The second is that military writers have argued that military science should influence doctrine. Although it is accepted that military doctrine sets the general goals towards which military science should orient itself, it is also argued that a military doctrine that is divorced from military science - that is, from professional military advice - will be marked by 'subjectivism' and 'voluntarism' and thus prone to serious error. 1 In other words, these abstract definitions reflect a certain tension between Party and military prerogatives in Soviet military thought.
