Red Storm Rising | Themes & Symbolism

Red Storm Rising Significant Topics

In the late 1970s, a public CIA report suggested that the Soviet Union's economy might suffer dramatically in the 1980s from insufficient supplies of oil.

Red Storm Rising builds on this premise.

To enhance efficiency, the Soviet oil fields are controlled from only a few command centers. One of these is attacked by Moslem fanatics who use the computer-controlled pipeline switching equipment to destroy a major oil field, cutting Soviet oil production by about a third. Faced with a severe economic crisis, the Soviet leaders fear that the Western nations will push their country into utter economic ruin. Prompted by this fear, the Soviet leaders launch a surprise attack on Western Europe, hoping to eliminate NATO as a military threat and force the Western powers to make social and economic concessions.

At the outset of the war, the Soviets occupy Iceland, depriving NATO of...
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