Here is a declassified intelligence report from 1995 where the government is thinking through the concept of deterrence in a post Soviet world. It notes with a remarkable lack of indignation the Soviets' methods of dealing with low level threats by making clear its intention to retaliate in kind. For instance, when Lebanon's civil war started spilling over into taking Russians hostage one of the terrorist leaders got a package with a single testicle from his son. They didn't bother the Russians after that but were otherwise able to carry on their civil war just fine. Why can't we have that kind of creative diplomacy?
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