Publication

This publication examines conscription in the Russian armed forces and analyzes the demographic, political and strategic problems associated with it. The author argues that each year the Russian general staff announce that the quality of conscripts is reduced. He presents research conducted on public attitudes toward conscription over a four-year period. The publication concludes that reform must take place as the present system wastes money but it also observes that institutionalized military and public attitudes toward recruitment in the armed forces will be difficult to change.