This book contains materials of the discussion, which gave rise to many emotions. Starting it, I could not imagine what accusations would fall on my head. But I am convinced that I did the right thing by raising at the II Congress of People's Deputies the question of the urgent need for changes in our defense policy and more radical cuts in military spending. Now, almost a year later, we can state that the discussion has come to major questions - about the size of our defense spending, about realistic assessments of threats to the country's security, about the nature of the relationship between the army and society in the new conditions, etc. Disputes, apparently, are coming long and difficult, and they are unlikely to be able to "close" again on command from above. One of the pain points of our state at the current, very difficult stage of its history is affected.