GRU
Chair: Nick Duque (nduque@uchicago.edu)
Crisis Director: Jon Warczak (warczak@uchicago.edu)
With the demise of Nikita Khrushchev and the rise of hard-liner Leonid Brezhnev, the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) of the Red Army General Staff of the Soviet Union faces a great challenge as it adapts to a new General Secretary in a turbulent time. The GRU must come up with innovative solutions to deal with the likely American intervention in Vietnam in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident two months ago, while the Soviet Union has to decide how to act toward the People's Republic of China if the Vietnam conflict escalates. The GRU must also compete with its nemesis, the Committee on State Security (KGB), to gain influence over Brezhnev. In addition, GRU officers tend to have their own motives. The GRU has the power to change the geopolitical landscape—provided that it uses its power properly.