Download or read book The Soviet High Command 1967 1989 written by Dale Roy Herspring and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-07-14 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The recent transformations in the USSR are nowhere more evident than in the Soviet military. Top-level military officers have been relieved of their positions, Gorbachev has warned of lean times for the military, the symbolic role of the armed forces has been downgraded, and the concept of "military sufficiency" points to major modifications in Soviet force structure. Contrary to some who see Gorbachev as a Sir Galahad out to slay the evil military high command, Dale Herspring concludes that the relationship between the highest Soviet political and military leaders is at the moment more symbiotic than conflictual. In this first in-depth study of the evolution of civil-military relations in the Soviet Union from 1967 to the present, he shows how the views of senior military officers have varied over time: currently, even if the members of the high command do not like all Gorbachev's changes, they understand the need for them and are prepared to live with them. As Herspring looks at the personalities and politics of eight top military figures, he reveals that the most important of them, Ogarkov, was the first senior Soviet military officer to understand the value of working with the political leadership. Ogarkov believed that the arms control and dtente processes, if carefully managed, could enhance the national security of the USSR. In Gorbachev, the Soviet military has found the type of individual that Ogarkov was seeking. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Download or read book The Kremlin and the High Command written by Dale R. Herspring and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2024-07-16 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout its existence, the Red Army was viewed as a formidable threat. By the end of the Cold War, however, it had become the weakest link in the Soviet Union's power structure. Always subordinate to the Communist Party, the military in 1991 suddenly found itself answering instead to the president of a democratic state. Dale Herspring closely examines how that relationship influenced the military's viability in the new Russian Federation. Herspring's book is the first to assess the relationship between the Russian military and the political leadership under Presidents Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin. He depicts an outmoded and demoralized military force still struggling to free itself from Cold War paradigms, while failing to confront not only debacles in Afghanistan and Chechnya but also a rise in crime and corruption within the ranks. He reveals how Gorbachev neglected the military to save Russia from internal collapse and Yeltsin reneged on continuing promises of support. And, while Putin claims a better understanding of the armed forces, he has severely tightened his control over the military while monitoring its struggle toward modernization. Herspring argues that presidential leadership-or a significant lack thereof-has been the key variable determining the kind of military Russia puts in the field. It has been up to the president to ensure that the high command makes a successful transition to the new polity-otherwise combat readiness will decline and generals and admirals could become politicized. By focusing on how the high command has reacted to each president's decisions and leadership style, Herspring shows that, in spite of the continued importance of the military's bureaucratic structure, personality factors have assumed a much more important role than in the past. The Kremlin and the High Command provides the most complete analysis to date of the Russian president's influence on the Russian officer corps, the soldiers they lead, and their army's combat readiness. Shedding light on the chaos that has plagued the USSR and Russia over the past 25 years, it also suggests how the often fraught relationship between the president and the high command must evolve if the Russian Federation is to evolve into a truly democratic nation.

Download or read book Mysteries of the Cold War written by Stephen J. Cimbala and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-12-20 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1999, this edited volume draws together contributors to discuss the end, management, technology and strategy of the Cold War with a focus on the USA and the Soviet Union. Mysteries of the Cold War enhances our view of decision-making by the two nations during the years 1945-1990 by revisiting some of the more important ‘policy puzzles’ or decision-making anomalies of that period. Among the case studies considered by academics and other expert analysts are: the 1961 Berlin crisis at ‘Checkpoint Charlie’; Soviet research and development into post-nuclear advanced technology weapons; US and Soviet maritime strategy; Soviet ‘internationalism’ and its role in Cold War policy; the ‘endgame’ of the Cold War and why it turned out that way. Included among the contributing authors are persons who spent major portions of their careers in the US intelligence community or elsewhere in the government.

Download or read book US Defence Strategy from Vietnam to Operation Iraqi Freedom written by Robert R. Tomes and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-12-13 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: US Defence Strategy from Vietnam to Operation Iraqi Freedom examines the thirty-year transformation in American military thought and defence strategy that spanned from 1973 through 2003. During these three decades, new technology and operational practices helped form what observers dubbed a 'Revolution in Military Affairs' in the 1990s and a 'New American Way of War' in the 2000s. Robert R. Tomes tells for the first time the story of how innovative approaches to solving battlefield challenges gave rise to non-nuclear strategic strike, the quest to apply information technology to offset Soviet military advantages, and the rise of 'decisive operations' in American military strategy. He details an innovation process that began in the shadow of Vietnam, matured in the 1980s as Pentagon planners sought an integrated nuclear-conventional deterrent, and culminated with battles fought during blinding sandstorms on the road to Baghdad in 2003. An important contribution to military innovation studies, the book also presents an innovation framework applicable to current defence transformation efforts. This book will be of much interest to students of strategic studies, US defence policy and US politics in general.

Download or read book Politics and the Russian Army written by Brian D. Taylor and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-06-09 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Military coups have plagued many countries around the world, but Russia, despite its tumultuous history, has not experienced a successful military coup in over two centuries. In a series of detailed case studies, Brian Taylor explains the political role of the Russian military. Drawing on a wealth of new material, including archives and interviews, Taylor discusses every case of actual or potential military intervention in Russian politics from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin. Taylor analyzes in particular detail the army's behavior during the political revolutions that marked the beginning and end of the twentieth century, two periods when the military was, uncharacteristically, heavily involved in domestic politics. He argues that a common thread unites the late-Imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet Russian army: an organizational culture that believes that intervention against the country's political leadership - whether tsar, general secretary, or president - is fundamentally illegitimate.

Download or read book Unarmed Forces written by Matthew Evangelista and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-06 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the Cold War, people worldwide feared that the U.S. and Soviet governments could not prevent a nuclear showdown. Citizens from both East-bloc and Western countries, among them prominent scientists and physicians, formed networks to promote ideas and policies that would lessen this danger. Two of their organizations—the Pugwash movement and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War—won Nobel Peace Prizes. Still, many observers believe that their influence was negligible and that the Reagan administration deserves sole credit for ending the Cold War. The first book to explore the impact these activists had on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain, Unarmed Forces demonstrates the importance of their efforts on behalf of arms control and disarmament.Matthew Evangelista examines the work of transnational peace movements throughout the Khrushchev, Brezhnev, and Gorbachev eras and into the first years of Boris Yeltsin's leadership. Drawing on extensive research in Russian archives and on interviews with Russian and Western activists and policymakers, he investigates the sources of Soviet policy on nuclear testing, strategic defense, and conventional forces. Evangelista concludes that transnational actors at times played a crucial role in influencing Soviet policy—specifically in encouraging moderate as opposed to hard-line responses—for they supplied both information and ideas to that closed society. Evangelista's findings challenge widely accepted views about the peaceful resolution of the Cold War. By revealing the connection between a state's domestic structure and its susceptibility to the influence of transnational groups, Unarmed Forces will also stimulate thinking about the broader issue of how government policy is shaped.

Download or read book Openness and Foreign Policy Reform in Communist States written by Gerald Segal and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-06-28 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at the way in which foreign policy has changed in communist states. It considers especially the relationship between domestic reform and foreign policy reform at times when formerly closed societies are becoming more open to the outside world. It focuses on three European and three Asian states, analysing their different paths to reform and looking in depth at the question of why some communist regimes collapse and why those in Asia have proved more durable than those in Europe.

Download or read book Reader s Guide to Military History written by Charles Messenger and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 985 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains some 600 entries on a range of topics from ancient Chinese warfare to late 20th-century intervention operations. Designed for a wide variety of users, it encompasses general reviews of aspects of military organization and science, as well as specific wars and conflicts. The book examines naval and air warfare, as well as significant individuals, including commanders, theorists, and war leaders. Each entry includes a listing of additional publications on the topic, accompanied by an article discussing these publications with reference to their particular emphases, strengths, and limitations.

Download or read book The Soldier in Russian Politics 1988 1996 written by Robert V. Barylski and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Part I: The Military and the End of the Soviet State -- 1. Thinking About Civil-Military Relations in Russia -- 2. Gorbachev'sReforms: Political Change and Civilian Control -- 3. The Military, Domestic Political Violence, and the Gorbachev-Yeltsin Rivalry -- 4. The Double Coup of August 1991 -- 5. The Dual Presidency -- 6. From Union to Commonwealth -- Part II: The Military and the New Russian State -- 7. Military Officers as a Political Force -- 8. Dividing the Army Monolith Responsibly -- 9. Presidential or Parliamentary Armed Forces? -- 10. The Armed Forces and Yeltsin's Presidential Putsch -- 11. The Military's Politics after the Crisis of September-October 1993 -- Part III: Testing the Russian State's Viability -- 12. The Chechen War and Civil-Military Relations -- 13. The Military's 1995 Political Offensive -- 14. The 1996 Presidential Campaign -- 15. President Yeltsin and General Lebed -- 16. Military Politics in Yeltsin's Presidential State -- 17. The Theory and Practice of Democratic Constitutional Control -- 18. Serving Under the Imperial Eagle -- 19. Postscript: Civil-Military Relations in an Ukaz-Governed State -- Bibliography -- Index

Download or read book The Elusive Balance written by William Curti Wohlforth and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a book about power in world politics in general and about the relationship between the Soviet Union and the balance of power during the Cold War in particular. Its empirical core is an investigation of how members of the Soviet political elite thought about the problem of power in world politics, mainly during the years between 1945 and 1989"--Page 1.

Download or read book No Miracles written by Michael R. Fenzel and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2017-12-05 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Soviet experience in Afghanistan provides a compelling perspective on the far-reaching hazards of military intervention. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev decided that a withdrawal from Afghanistan should occur as soon as possible. The Soviet Union's senior leadership had become aware that their strategy was unraveling, their operational and tactical methods were not working, and the sacrifices they were demanding from the Soviet people and military were unlikely to produce the forecasted results. Despite this state of affairs, operations in Afghanistan persisted and four more years passed before the Soviets finally withdrew their military forces. In No Miracles, Michael Fenzel explains why and how that happened, as viewed from the center of the Soviet state. From that perspective, three sources of failure stand out: poor civil-military relations, repeated and rapid turnover of Soviet leadership, and the perception that Soviet global prestige and influence were inexorably tied to the success of the Afghan mission. Fenzel enumerates the series of misperceptions and misjudgments that led to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, tracing the hazards of their military intervention and occupation. Ultimately, he offers a cautionary tale to nation states and policymakers considering military intervention and the use of force.

Download or read book The Transition to National Armies in the Former Soviet Republics 1988 2005 written by Jesse Paul Lehrke and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at the militaries of the late-Soviet and post-Soviet republics. Beginning with the end of the Soviet era, it recognises that the successor states did not spring from nowhere, but inherited a legacy that influenced all that followed. The book discusses how politicians control the instruments that are the manifestation of the state’s monopoly on violence, and how society views and supports the military. By taking a bottom up empirical approach that examines the personnel, leaders, organisations and institutions, and their outlook and attitudes, the book presents a comprehensive picture of the armed forces, showing how the armed forces are very significantly shaped by the surrounding political and social environment. The book goes on to examine the armed forces in action, and highlights that to truly understand the militaries, studies need to go beyond looking at the static structures.

Download or read book US Military Strategy and the Cold War Endgame written by Stephen J. Cimbala and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the end of the Cold War security concerns are more about regional and civil conflicts than nuclear or Eurasian global wars. Stephen Cimbala argues that deterrence characteristics of the pre-Cold War period will in the 21st century again become normative.

Download or read book Nuclear Strategy in the Twenty First Century written by Stephen J. Cimbala and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2000-05-30 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The future of nuclear weapons and nuclear strategy in the 21st century is not entirely predictable from the Cold War past. Nor is it easy to foresee on the basis of what has happened since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Cimbala contends that nuclear weapons and the psychology of nuclear deterrence will remain important after 2000, but the character of that importance will change. No longer will nuclear weapons be the dominators of military technology. Instead, advanced technology conventional weapons, based on information and electronics, will supplant nuclear weapons as the instruments of military supremacy in the 21st century. What, Cimbala asks, can be expected of nuclear weapons in the 21st century, given what we have learned from previous experience in the Cold War and in the 1990s? Cimbala expects that nuclear weapons will spread among currently non-nuclear states, and states with regional grievances or hegemonic aspirations will seek to deploy small nuclear forces as deterrents against neighbors or against outside intervention by the United States in regional conflicts. Regional rogue states may also obtain nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, as Cimbala explains, the international balance of power is unlikely to change. As he makes clear, power will be less dependent on deployed military platforms and more dependent on information warfare. A thoughtful and provocative analysis that will be of particular interest to policy makers, scholars, and other researchers involved with arms control, security studies, and international relations.

Download or read book The Two Germanies and Military Security in Europe written by C. Bluth and published by Springer. This book was released on 2002-10-31 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This original study based on documents, hitherto not discussed in literature of the Cold War, adds a significant new perspective to an important episode in Cold War History. The subject of this book is the policy of the two Germanies towards the talks on Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR) in Europe during the 1970s. Negotiations on MBFR continued for a long time without progress. There has been much speculatuion about the motivations of the Eastern side. This book makes use of newly declassified files and, for the first time, reveals the true purposes and intentions of the Warsaw Pact in those negotiations.

Download or read book The Brink written by Marc Ambinder and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An informative and often enthralling book…in the appealing style of Tom Clancy” (Kirkus Reviews) about the 1983 war game that triggered a tense, brittle period of nuclear brinkmanship between the United States and the former Soviet Union. What happened in 1983 to make the Soviet Union so afraid of a potential nuclear strike from the United States that they sent mobile ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) into the field, placing them on a three-minute alert Marc Ambinder explains the anxious period between the United States and the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1984, with the “Able Archer ’83” war game at the center of the tension. With astonishing and clarifying new details, he recounts the scary series of the close encounters that tested the limits of ordinary humans and powerful leaders alike. Ambinder provides a comprehensive and chilling account of the nuclear command and control process, from intelligence warnings to the composition of the nuclear codes themselves. And he affords glimpses into the secret world of a preemptive electronic attack that scared the Soviet Union into action. Ambinder’s account reads like a thriller, recounting the spy-versus-spy games that kept both countries—and the world—in check. From geopolitics in Moscow and Washington, to sweat-caked soldiers fighting in the trenches of the Cold War, to high-stakes war games across NATO and the Warsaw Pact, “Ambinder’s account of a serious threat of global annihilation…is spellbinding…a masterpiece of recent history” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). The Brink serves as the definitive intelligence, nuclear, and national security history of one of the most precarious times in recent memory and “shows the consequences of nuclear buildups, sometimes-careless language, and nervous leaders. Now, more than ever, those consequences matter” (USA TODAY).

Download or read book The Great Terror written by Robert Conquest and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2008 with total page 606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The definitive work on Stalin's purges, the author's The Great Terror was universally acclaimed when it first appeared in 1968. Provides accounts of on everything form the three great 'Moscow Trials' to methods of obtaining confessions, the purge of writers and other members of the intelligentsia, on life in the labor camps, and many other key matters. On the fortieth anniversary of thew first edition, it is remarkable how many of the most disturbing conclusions have born up under the light of fresh evidence." --