Military Reform in Russia

Author(s): Bettina Renz
Editor(s): Stephen Aris, Aglaya Snetkov, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines, Hans-Henning Schröder
Series: Russian Analytical Digest (RAD)
Issue: 116
Pages: 2-4
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2012

The Russian military is currently undergoing a modernization process. It is long overdue. After the end of the Cold War, the armed forces received little investment and any changes made were mostly minor. The main effort went into the replacing of conscripts with professional service personnel. Little new equipment was procured and structures and outlook remained wedded to Cold War philosophies. This all changed, however, with the war against Georgia in 2008. It was the Russian failures seen in this conflict that began the current, well-financed modernization drive. This process is, though, not without its problems.

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