Fear as a category of strategic stability

The object of the study is global strategic stability, the subject is the place and role of fear in the system of strategic stability. The relevance of addressing this topic is due to the escalation of tension in the zone of indirect conflict (proxy conflict) between Russia and the American-centric coalition of Western states, the main reason for which is seen as a critical imbalance of strategic stability and strategic deterrence due to the lack of fear on the part of the collective Western states of the threat of possible use of nuclear weapons by the Russian military and political leadership. The inertia of escalation and intensification of this conflict as NATO countries become more and more directly involved in it is fraught with disastrous consequences not only for Russia, but also for international security. Therefore, special emphasis in the article is placed on the need to restore the "balance of fear" as a subjective and psychological basis for strategic stability. The general theoretical and methodological framework of the research is the paradigm of political realism. The main conclusions of the study include the following. Fear is explicated by the author in line with the Hobbesian tradition, in which it is understood not as an irrational affect, but as a property of reason (rational emotion) aimed at self-preservation and achieving peace. Interstate relations necessarily include mutual fear as one of the key factors due to the absence of a supranational authority in the role of global sovereign. Fear in the context of "international anarchy" motivates States to ensure their own security, including preventive and defensive wars. In the age of nuclear weapons, fear is institutionalized as a "balance of fear" that ensures strategic stability through mutual deterrence, involving the demonstration of threats and evidence of their reality. In the final part, the author makes a (debatable) conclusion that Russia needs to switch from passive nuclear deterrence to active intimidation in order to prevent the escalation of tension into the terminal phase.