#9 - JRL 7035
From: "Roger McDermott" <rmmcdermott@btinternet.com>
Subject: RUSSIAN MILITARY REFORM 1992-2002
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003
Dear David,
Here are some details on my book. I have also attached an interview by a
Moscow journal Otechestvennye Zapiski carried out in December 2002, and
published this month. The English language version has not yet been seen in
the West. Since Jacob Kipp, Timothy Thomas, Mikhail Tsypkin and Stephane
Lefebvre are North American contributors to the book, it would appreciated
if this could come to the attention of US readers of the list.
We believe that there is no other volume in English or russian that
exculsively examines the course of military in the past decade.
The book will be avialable within the next few months from: Frank Cass
Publishers, (UK) Crown House, 47 Chase side, Southgate, London, N14 5 BP;
Tel: +44 (0)20 8920 2100: (USA) 5824 NE Hassalo Street, Portland, OR, 97213
3644; Tel: 800 944 6190. E-mail: sales@frankcass.com
Regards,
Roger.
Roger N. McDermott & Anne C. Aldis (eds), Russian Military Reform
1992-2002, Frank Cass: London, Or., Portland, 2003 (forthcoming)
Contents
Section One: policy, politics and society
1. The Development of Russia’s Security Policy 1992-2002
Marcel de Haas
2. Outside Politics: Civil-Military Relations During a Period of Reform
Jennifer G. Mathers
3. A New Day for the Russian Army? Reforming the Armed Forces Under Yeltsin
and Putin
David Betz & Valeriy Volkov
4. Russian Soldiers in the Barracks: a Portrait of a Subculture
Joris Van Bladel
Section Two: Force Structure
5. Nuclear Versus Conventional Forces – Implications for Russia’s Future
Military Reform
Frank Umbach
6. The Strategic Rocket Forces 1991-2002
Steven J. Main
7. Reform and the Russian Ground Forces 1992-2002
Michael Orr
8. The Reform of the Russian Air Force
Stéphane Lefebvre
9. Rudderless in a Storm: the Russian Navy 1992-2002
Mikhail Tsypkin
Section Three: Experience
10. The Challenge of 'Small Wars' for the Russian Military
Pavel K. Baev
11. Information Warfare in the Second (1999-Present) Chechen War: Motivator
for Military Reform?
Timothy L. Thomas
12. War Scare in the Caucasus: Redefining the Threat and the War on Terrorism
Jacob W. Kipp
Section Four: Where to?
13. Putin's Military Priorities: the Modernisation of the Armed Forces
Roger N. McDermott
14. An Economic Analysis of Russian Military Reform Proposals: Ambition and
Reality
Peter J. Sutcliffe & Chris Hill
15. Reshaping Russia’s Armed Forces – Security Requirements and
Institutional Responses
Christopher N. Donnelly
-------
Otechestvennye Zapiski
Interview questions to Roger McDermott, Co-Editor of Russian Military
Reform 1992-2002, (Frank Cass: London) 2003 (forthcoming)
OZ: Could you give a succinct generalization on what the authors think
about the prospect of the military reform in Russia?
All of the authors have been interested in Russia for many years. They are
therefore under no illusions about the scale of the two tasks facing the
Russian military over the course of the first decade of its independent
existence, namely to design and implement a suitable military framework
which can defend the country and maintain its international commitments,
while at the same time dealing with the legacy of Cold War military
structures. No other country has had to undertake this work on such a
massive scale, though many others have faced similar problems and all of
them are still grappling with the consequences. It would be unrealistic,
therefore to expect Russia to have solved these questions already. Military
structuring is in any case a continuous process, as forces evolve to deal
with the work that is required of them. What our book does show, in the
hope of educating a Western readership, is how far Russia has moved along
the road of thinking through these issues, in which direction, and it tries
to give an indication of where the difficult choices will lie in the
future. It is in all our interests that Russia has armed forces that can
be relied upon to perform their duties, both nationally and
internationally, at a realistic social and economic cost.
OZ: Are there comparable editions in the field? How is the book positioned
in this broader discourse?
There is no comparable volume in English. Although some works, mainly
conference proceedings, have considered the Russian armed forces, there has
not been a volume dedicated solely to the course of military reform. This
book is intended to fill this void, and dispel ignorance; it is aimed
primarily at a western readership.
OZ: What were the criteria for choosing authors and chapter topics? Which
of the two factors - author's expertise or topic - was
the predominant one?
Often these two factors overlapped, as we aimed to achieve a balanced book
written by experts. For instance, there are very few western analysts that
could match the skill, knowledge and expertise of Jacob Kipp on the
processes by which Russia's security policy is aligned with the military's
threat assessment; or Timothy Thomas on Russia's experience of information
warfare; or Michael Orr's understanding of the theory and practical
experience of the Russian ground forces. Christopher Donnelly has had
unparallelled opportunities to discuss the restructuring of military forces
in countries undergoing fundamental changes. Sometimes, the topic also
necessitated searching for the very best scholar to handle its complexities.
As an editor of the book, I can say that I'm pleased with the calibre of
the authors and their chapters.
OZ: A book of this type should not to be biased. However, would you
describe the authors as belonging to certain schools of thought?
Absolutely, a book of this nature ought not to be biased in any way; its
analysis should reflect only the objective course of events. From this
point of view the book could well mark a watershed in the academic study of
Russian military policy in English: there are very few books by Western
authors which take as the basis of their analysis almost exclusively
material published in Russia by Russians. This is one of the prime
characteristics of the book, and to that extent all the authors belong to a
similar school of thought, one which does not select its data to feed any
preconceived ideas.
OZ: History of the book. How did the idea of the book emerge? Who came up
with it, etc?
In the late summer of 2001the idea of producing a book on the Russian
military was first suggested by Dr. Jonathan Eyal (Royal United Services
Institute for Defence Studies, London). However, it took some further
thinking and discussion with colleagues, before the idea began to emerge
more clearly. The absence of serious treatment, contained in one volume in
English, addressing the complex issues that have faced the Russian armed
forces since 1992 was highlighted by Dr. Steven Main (Conflict Studies
Research Centre, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst). It became clear to us
that there was a need to address this subject in a serious, academic
manner. If this was to be successful, it needed the participation of
scholars from many countries. The task, albeit a difficult one, grew
rapidly in the autumn of 2001. I approached individuals, not on the basis
of the views which they held, but only on the basis of their expertise.
Soon, progress became quite rapid. Chris Donnelly (Special Advisor to
Secretary General of NATO) and Jacob Kipp (Acting Director, Foreign
Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, USA) agreed to write chapters,
and offered advice on potential contributors.
A turning point developed when I invited the late Professor John Erickson
(University of Edinburgh) to contribute to the book. Although he declined
the invitation, he offered great encouragement to proceed with the project.
As many will recollect, John Erickson wrote much on the history of the
Soviet military, particularly its experience of the Great Patriotic War,
1941-45. He dispelled much ignorance in the west about the terrible course
of the war and its cost to the Russian people. In recognition of his
contribution to our historical understanding he was invited to lecture to
the Russian General Staff - a great honour for him. In February 2002 he died.
That contribution to the historical understanding of Russian history and
specifically the armed forces served as an example to follow. And in that
tradition, we regard it as axiomatic that no-one in connection with this
book is in any way anti-Russian.
OZ: Russian military experts (at least those who are not file & rank at
the
Ministry of Defence) warn that the Russian security system may crumble any
moment. What is your opinion?
I think that this prospect is extremely unlikely. One only has to
contemplate a Russia unable to defend itself to realise how unthinkable it
would be for both the political and the military leadership to allow such a
scenario to develop. Much more dangerous, however, would be a scenario
where low standards mean that the armed forces are unable to do what is
required of them. The majority of the armed forces are conscientious and
patriotic. Many of them, and their families, live in remote areas and work
hard under difficult conditions. Russians have to balance the commitment,
which these people offer, and the capabilities needed to ensure adequate
defence, with the many other demands of a developing society.
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