Download or read book The Russian Military Today and Tomorrow Putin Russian Navy Ukraine Gazprom Rosneft Lavrov Deep Operations Campaign Design Russian Chinese Security Relations Mafia and Arms Dealers written by Department of Defense and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-04 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two excellent studies from the U.S. Army's Strategic Studies Institute provide unique insights into the current state of the Russian military. Topics and subjects covered include: Putin's Navy, Ukraine, Gazprom, Rosneft, the Russian-Georgian Conflict, Russian-Chinese Security Relations, Lavrov, Iran, Chechnya, Russian Mafia and Arms Dealers, Blitzkrieg, Deep Operations, campaign design, Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, South Ossetia, Siloviki, Yukos, and more. The Russian Military Today and Tomorrow - Contents include: 1. "No Need to Threaten Us, We Are Frightened of Ourselves," Russia's Blueprint for a Police State, The New Security Strategy * 2. Is Military Reform in Russia for "Real"? Yes, But * 3. Operational Art and the Curious Narrative on the Russian Contribution: Presence and Absence Over the Last 2 Decades. * 4. Russian Information Warfare Theory: The Consequences of August 2008 * 5. Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces and Arms Control: Deja Vu All Over Again * 6. The Challenge of Understanding the Russian Navy * 7. Russian Military Challenges Toward Central-East Europe * 8. Russian-Chinese Security Relations: Constant and Changing - Western interest in this field sharply declined after the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. To many, the issues and questions involved in this field, not to mention the effort connected with obtaining funding for such study, seemed to be irrelevant and not worth the time spent in doing so. Yet, recent events have shown that this approach is seriously misguided and involves major costs to the United States and its allies. Of course, it is by now a truism to say that the Russo-Georgian war of 2008 demonstrated to all observers that "Russia was back," if they had not realized that before. But in fact, as Stephen Blank points out in Chapter 2, Russian military and political leaders well before then believed that Russia was at risk in both military and nonmilitary ways. Some went so far as to say that the country was, in effect, already in an information war against the West. We often underestimate the impact of the Russian leadership's perception that Russia is intrinsically at risk, and in some sense under attack, from the West. That underestimation leads us astray, conceptually but also politically. It causes us to ignore some of the most vital and foundational issues in Russian defense policy, e.g., the relationship between the military and the civilian government and the importance of doctrinal statements and threat assessments. Civil-Military Relations in Medvedev's Russia - The Russian military has successfully persuaded the government to accept its expansive concept of the threats to Russia, i.e., its threat assessment. That threat assessment is one that postulates growing military threats from without, mainly from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an increased likelihood of the incidence of war, and, in general, a presupposition of political, if not military, conflict with the West that preserves the state of siege in world politics inaugurated by Vladimir Lenin. Moreover, this threat assessment also postulates increasing domestic threats to the security of the present political order and links those threats, as would a Leninist approach, to the same external adversaries, if not enemies, postulated in the external threat assessment. Yet despite this structural militarization of Russia's cognitive and policy approach to its security dilemmas, the military has only partly succeeded in convincing the government to accept its answers to these dilemmas. Those answers essentially entail returning to a form of mobilization even though defense spending, in a bow to the military, will reach unprecedented levels in 2010 despite the current economic crisis. This situation of inflated threat assessments leading to pro-military policy outcomes is a direct result of the enduring failure to establish democratic controls.
Download or read book The Russian Military Today and Tomorrow written by Stephen J. Blank and published by . This book was released on 2013-08-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Putin s Asymmetric Assault on Democracy in Russia and Europe written by and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The official U.S. government report on Russian interference in democracy around the world! Most Americans were surprised to learn of Russian efforts to manipulate the results of the 2016 presidential election, and have become increasingly concerned about the vulnerabilities of our democracy. Here for the first time in an official U.S. government report is the fascinating and detailed account of how ex-KGB agent Vladimir Putin has used computer hackers, official state spy agencies, and even Russian organized crime thugs over the past thirty years to achieve his policy agenda?not only for Russian political domination, but also for his own enrichment and the enrichment of the oligarchs who control almost all aspects of the Russian economy. This complete report includes chapters on: Putin’s Rise and Motivations Manipulation and Repression Inside Russia Old Active Measures and Modern Malign Influence Operations Weaponization of Civil Society, Ideology, Culture, Crime, and Energy Kremlin Interference in Semi-Consolidated Democracies and Transitional Governments Kremlin Interference in Consolidated Democracies Multilateral and U.S. efforts to Counter the Kremlin’s Asymmetric Arsenal In Putin’s Asymmetric Assault on Democracy in Russia and Europe, we learn about Vladimir Putin’s rise to power through the KGB to mayor of St. Petersburg and eventually as head of the Russian state. We discover the history of how Putin used classic Cold War KGB tactics by weaponizing civil society, culture, ideology, and Russia’s criminal element against the nascent Russian democracy by cultivating and using ties to NGOs, thinktanks, extremist political groups, the Russian orthodox church, industrial and energy policy, and the Russian Mafia. We also see how the Kremlin then exported this political extortion, intimidation, and monetary corruption first to its Eastern European neighbors, then their western partners in the European Union, and how it has now landed on America’s shores. Just as certain people in the intelligence community became increasingly alarmed at the growing strength and sophistication of Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s, the senators and staffers of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations are giving the nation fair warning of a 9/11-level assault on the United States, this time by Russia’s spy agencies. Putin’s Asymmetric Assault on Democracy in Russia and Europe reveals not only the history of Russia’s devastating tactics, but how to recognize and counter them.
Download or read book The Eastern Question written by Daniel Sheldon Hamilton and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The future of Europe's east is open. Can the societies of this vast region become more democratic and secure and integrate into the European mainstream? Or are they destined to become failed, fractured lands of grey mired in the stagnation and turbulence historically characteristic of Europe's borderlands? How and why is Russia seeking to influence these developments, and what is the future of Russia itself? How should the West engage?
Download or read book Eurasian Disunion written by Janusz Bugajski and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eurasian Disunion: Russia's Vulnerable Flanks examines the impact of Moscow's neo-imperial project on the security of several regions bordering the Russian Federation, analyses the geopolitical aspects of Kremlin ambitions, and makes recommendations for the future role of NATO, the EU, and the United States in the Wider Europe. Russia's attack on Ukraine and the dismemberment of its territory is not an isolated operation. It constitutes one component of a broader strategic agenda to rebuild a Moscow-centered bloc designed to compete with the West. The acceleration of President Vladimir Putin's neo-imperial project has challenged the security of several regions that border the Russian Federation and focused attention on the geopolitical aspects of Kremlin ambitions. This book is intended to generate a more informed policy debate on the dangers stemming from the restoration of a Russian-centered "pole of power" or "sphere of influence" in Eurasia. It focuses on five vulnerable flanks bordering the Russian Federation--the Baltic and Nordic zones, East Central Europe, Southeast Europe, South Caucasus, and Central Asia. It examines several pivotal questions, including the strategic objectives of Moscow's expansionist ambitions; Kremlin tactics and capabilities; the impact of Russia's assertiveness on the national security of neighbors; the responses of vulnerable states to Russia's geopolitical ambitions; the impact of prolonged regional turmoil on the stability of the Russian Federation and the survival of the Putinist regime; and the repercussions of heightened regional tensions for U.S., NATO, and EU policy toward Russia and toward unstable regions bordering the Russian Federation.
Download or read book Russia in Decline written by S. Enders Wimbush and published by . This book was released on 2017-03 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russia is in precipitous decline, which is unlikely to be reversed. This conclusion, based on the research of Russian and American experts, constitutes the bottom line of The Jamestown Foundation's project, Russia in Decline. Moreover, the tempo of Russia's decay is accelerating across virtually every fragment of its politics, economy, society and military, which renders Russia a poor candidate to survive globalization, let alone claim the mantle of a Great Power. This small volume details why Russia's spiraling into decline and disarray should keep strategists awake at night. It should also alert foreign policy, security and military planners, for whom Russia's decline will necessarily become the leitmotif of informed planning.
Download or read book NEW RUSSIAN ENGAGEMENT WITH LATIN AMERICA STRATEGIC POSITION COMMERCE AND DREAMS OF THE PAST written by R. Evan Ellis and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Digital Eastern Europe written by William Schreiber and published by The Jan Nowak Jezioranski College of Eastern Europe. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part One: e-Governance and Cybersecurity. Part Two: Ukraine 2014: The Crisis Online. Part three: Separatism and De Facto States Online. Part Four: Democracy and Authoritarianism Online. Part Five: Digital Diplomacy
Download or read book The Putin Paradox written by Richard Sakwa and published by I.B. Tauris. This book was released on 2020-02-06 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vladimir Putin has emerged as one of the key leaders of the twenty-first century. However, he is also recognized as one of the most divisive. Abroad, his assertion of Russia's interests and critique of the western-dominated international system has brought him into conflict with Atlantic powers. Within Russia, he has balanced various factions within the elite intelligentsia alongside the wider support of Russian society. So what is the 'Putin paradox?' Richard Sakwa grapples with Putin's personal and political development on both the international political scene and within the domestic political landscape of Russia. This study historicizes the Putin paradox, through theoretical, historical and political analysis and in light of wider developments in Russian society. Richard Sakwa presents the Putin paradox as a unique regime type - balancing numerous contradictions - in order to adapt to its material environment while maintaining sufficient authority with which to shape it.
Download or read book Trump Russia written by Seth Hettena and published by Melville House. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Hettena is a first-rate reporter and wonderful story-teller, and the tale he tells here is mind-boggling."—Jane Mayer, author of New York Times bestseller Dark Money "Hettena skillfully weaves many threads—most fresh or previously hidden—into a rich tapestry tying together decades of Donald Trump's deep involvement with Russia."—DAVID CAY JOHNSTON , author of New York Times bestseller The Making of Donald Trump Uncovering the decades-long association between Donald Trump and Russia Is the 45th President of the United States under the control of a foreign power? Award-winning Associated Press reporter Seth Hettena untangles the story of Donald Trump’s long involvement with Russia in damning detail—including new reporting never before published. As Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the relationship between members of Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives continues, there is growing evidence that Trump has spent decades cultivating ties to corrupt Russians and the post-Soviet state. In Trump/Russia: A Definitive History, Seth Hettena chronicles the many years Trump has spent wooing Russian money and power. From the collapse of his casino empire—which left Trump desperate for cash—and his first contacts with Russian deal-makers and financiers, on up to the White House, Hettena reveals the myriad of shady people, convoluted dealings, and strange events that suggest how indebted to Russia our forty-fifth president might be. Using deeply researched reporting, along with newly uncovered information, court documents, and exclusive interviews with investigators and FBI agents, Hettena provides an expansive and essential primer to the Trump/Russia scandal, leaving no stone unturned.
Download or read book The Strongman written by Angus Roxburgh and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-12-15 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russia under Vladimir Putin has proved a prickly partner for the West, a far cry from the democratic ally many hoped for when the Soviet Union collapsed. Abroad, he has used Russia's energy might as a foreign policy weapon, while at home he has cracked down on opponents, adamant that only he has the right vision for his country's future. Former BBC Moscow correspondent Angus Roxburgh charts the dramatic fight for Russia's future under Vladimir Putin - how the former KGB man changed from reformer to autocrat, how he sought the West's respect but earned its fear, how he cracked down on his rivals at home and burnished a flamboyant personality cult, one day saving snow leopards or horse-back riding bare-chested, the next tongue-lashing Western audiences. Drawing on dozens of exclusive interviews in Russia, where he worked for a time as a Kremlin insider advising Putin on press relations, as well as in the US and Europe, Roxburgh also argues that the West threw away chances to bring Russia in from the cold, by failing to understand its fears and aspirations following the collapse of communism.
Download or read book A Difficult Neighbourhood written by John Besemeres and published by ANU Press. This book was released on 2016-10-14 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through a series of essays on key events in recent years in Russia, the western ex-republics of the USSR and the countries of the one-time Warsaw Pact, John Besemeres seeks to illuminate the domestic politics of the most important states, as well as Moscow’s relations with all of them. At the outset, he takes some backward glances at the violent suppression of national life in the ‘bloodlands’ of Europe during World War II by the Stalinist and Nazi regimes, which helps to explain much about the region’s dynamics since. His concern throughout is that a large area of Europe with a combined population well in excess of Russia’s could again be consigned by the West to Moscow’s care, not this time by more and less malign forms of collusion, but by distracted negligence or incomprehension. ‘This is a wonderful collection of essays from a leading Eastern Europe specialist. John Besemeres brings a lifetime of experience, profound insights, and an incisive style to subjects ranging from wartime and post-war Poland through contemporary Ukraine to Putin’s Russia. At a time when doublespeak has become the new normal, his refreshing honesty has never been in greater need.’ — Bobo Lo This publication was awarded a Centre for European Studies Publication Prize in 2015. The prize covers the cost of professional copyediting.
Download or read book The Kremlin Playbook 2 written by Heather A. Conley and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-05-01 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Kremlin Playbook 2: The Enablers, the CSIS Europe Program and the Center for the Study of Democracy explored whether some of these jurisdictions and companies could be enabling forces that amplify Russian malign economic influence in some countries in Europe. The study analyzed the following case study countries: Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Montenegro, the Netherlands, and Romania. The report shows that some countries facilitate or enable Russian malign economic influence, and by doing so these enablers actively participate in the weakening and discrediting of their own democratic structures. The Kremlin Playbook 2 concludes that Russian malign economic influence and illicit finance operate in a financial gray zone that is a clear and present danger to U.S. national security as well as transatlantic security. To push back against this threat, the United States and its European allies must take decisive action to limit Russia’s malign behavior in their financial systems. Only transparency and enforcement of our rule of law can guarantee trust in the system and rebuild confidence in democratic institutions.
Download or read book The Plot to Destroy Democracy written by Malcolm Nance and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2018-06-26 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A provocative, comprehensive analysis of Vladimir Putin and Russia's master plan to destroy democracy in the age of Donald Trump. In the greatest intelligence operation in the history of the world, Donald Trump was made President of the United States with the assistance of a foreign power. For the first time, The Plot to Destroy Democracy reveals the dramatic story of how blackmail, espionage, assassination, and psychological warfare were used by Vladimir Putin and his spy agencies to steal the 2016 U.S. election -- and attempted to bring about the fall of NATO, the European Union, and western democracy. It will show how Russia and its fifth column allies tried to flip the cornerstones of democracy in order to re-engineer the world political order that has kept most of the world free since 1945. Career U.S. Intelligence officer Malcolm Nance will examine how Russia has used cyber warfare, political propaganda, and manipulation of our perception of reality -- and will do so again -- to weaponize American news, traditional media, social media, and the workings of the internet to attack and break apart democratic institutions from within, and what we can expect to come should we fail to stop their next attack. Nance has utilized top secret Russian-sourced political and hybrid warfare strategy documents to demonstrate the master plan to undermine American institutions that has been in effect from the Cold War to the present day. Based on original research and countless interviews with espionage experts, Nance examines how Putin's recent hacking accomplished a crucial first step for destabilizing the West for Russia, and why Putin is just the man to do it. Nance exposes how Russia has supported the campaigns of right-wing extremists throughout both the U.S. and Europe to leverage an axis of autocracy, and how Putin's agencies have worked since 2010 to bring fringe candidate Donald Trump into elections. Revelatory, insightful, and shocking, The Plot To Destroy Democracy puts a professional spy lens on Putin's plot and unravels it play-by-play. In the end, he provides a better understanding of why Putin's efforts are a serious threat to our national security and global alliances -- in much more than one election -- and a blistering indictment of Putin's puppet, President Donald J. Trump.
Download or read book The Wider Black Sea Region in the 21st Century written by Daniel Sheldon Hamilton and published by Center for Transatlantic Relations Sais. This book was released on 2008 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this volume leading scholars from Europe, Russia, the U.S. and the Black Sea itself address the dynamics of the wider Black Sea region, discuss major issues of conflict, and identify potential for cooperation. Their contributions result from a collaborative research project organized by the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, the Austrian Institute for International Affairs in Vienna, and the Austrian Marshall Plan Foundation."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book The New Northern Dimension of the European Neighbourhood written by Pami Aalto and published by CEPS. This book was released on 2008 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the contemporary policy debate on the EU's neighborhood, grand designs are transforming into more pragmatic considerations. This book examines regional cooperation among the countries of northern Europe, emphasizing the pitfalls and successes of engaging Russia. Drawing from the experiences of northern partnerships, the authors assess prospects for collaborating on energy, transportation, the environment, and public health. They conclude that practical regional cooperation with Russia can prove highly relevant not only for developing the EU's northern policy but also for working with Russia in general.
Download or read book Rasputin written by Frances Welch and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Told with humor, intrigue, and a shrewd eye for detail, this riveting short biography sheds much-needed light on the life of nineteenth-century Russian icon Grigory Rasputin. Grigory Rasputin, a Siberian peasant turned mystic and court sage, was as fascinating as he was unfathomable. He played the role of the simple man, eating with his fingers and boasting, “I don’t even know the ABC.” But, as the only person able to relieve the symptoms of hemophilia in the Tsar’s heir Alexei, he gained almost hallowed status within the Imperial court. During the last decade of his life, Rasputin and his band of “little ladies” came to symbolize all that was decadent, corrupt, and remote about the Imperial Family, especially when it was rumored that he was not only shaping Russian policy during the First World War, but also enjoying an intimate relationship with the Empress… Rasputin’s role in the downfall of the tsarist regime is beyond dispute. But who was he really? Prophet or rascal? A “breath of rank air...who blew away the cobwebs of the Imperial Palace,” as Beryl Bainbridge put it, or a dangerous deviant? Writing for historical aficionados and curious readers alike, Frances Welch turns her inimitable wry gaze on one of the great mysteries of Russian history.
