#2
From: "Dale Herspring" <falka@ksu.edu>
Subject: Putin and the Military
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001
While I think we must continue to be careful and not overplay the results of recent events, I think it is worth noting that Putin has taken some important steps vis-a-vis the military.
To wit:
First, it is worth noting that military reform has been a joke for the past ten odd years. Indeed, I suspect that if one did a content analysis of Russian military writings, "military reform" would be one of the most frequent policies mentioned. We have had numerous drafts of military doctrines -- all of which have had little or no effect because they have largely been drafted by a General Staff that is out of touch with the budgetary situation. Oh, they understand how bad things are, but they cannot get rid of "old thinking" as it used to be called during the Gorbachev era.
Second, he got rid of Manilov and Ivashov -- two hard line, loud mouths who did everything possible to propagate old thinking.
Third, he has increased the amount of money available to the money significantly. True, some benefits have been taken away, and much remains to be done, but he has begun to meet the military's budgetary crisis.
Fourth, he has taken on the defense industries and may be on the verge of turning things up-side down.
Fifth, he used September 11 to call the generals and admirals to order -- as evident in his September 24 statement in which he made it clear that Moscow was on Washington's side insofar as the war in Afghanistan War was concerned.
Sixth, he announced the Russia will move to a professional army, fully aware of the increased costs involved, not only in terms of salary, but in terms of infrastructure as well.
Seventh, and most recently, he fired a number of top navy officials. Even if that is retribution for the sinking of the Kursk, the fact, is that he did it.
Eighth, a reform plan for 2001-2005 has apparently been adopted with Putin's approval. The latter calls for the creation of a more mobile, modern military.
It is very easy to pooh-pooh these actions. Yetlsin also called for a professional military (by the year 2000), numerous plans have been adopted in the past that led nowhere, and a group of retired generals blasted Putin's policy in an open letter. Others have seen efforts by Kvashnin to criticize Putin publicly. Indeed, one can fairly ask the question whether or not Putin has stuck his neck out too far. Is there a danger of a counter-reaction by the military?
While one could never rule out political action by the Russian military, it is worth noting that such actions are very rare. Indeed, I am not a historian so my memory is probably not long enough to know if it occurred in the past. They fired on the White House on Yeltsin's side to be sure, but they were following the orders from their political leaders.
Furthermore, my own experience over the years with Russian military officers suggests that they are less political (if by that one means involvement in political matters) than are American officer (with whom I also had a 32 year association).
In closing, Putin's approach toward the military mirrors his approach toward the rest of the political system. It needs to be rebuilt, but Moscow will not be built in a day. He moves slowly, builds coalitions, and feels his way forward -- which is exactly what he is doing with the armed forces right now.