Europe & Russia

Shadow Politics: The Russian State in the 21st Century Dr Peter J Stavrakis Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Assessments of Russia's future possess a lamentable tendency to oscillate between enthusiastic optimism about the development of free market democracy or brooding pessimism concerning the vitality of Russia's absolutist heritage, without providing many durable insights. The goal of this essay is to undertake a more penetrating analysis of a paradox of state power that lies at the heart of future Russian politics."

Multinational Land Formations and NATO: Reforming Practices and Structures Dr Thomas-Durell Young Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "In yet another incisive and detailed work focused on the changing face of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Dr. Thomas Young provided a unique perspective on a very timely issue—that of bi-/multi-national land formations within the Alliance. I say timely because, with recent Council agreement on the new command structure, implementation work on this structure will no doubt, in due course, result in a review of the NATO force structure. In this regard, Dr. Young's research and study provide an invaluable source of essential background reading for this subsequent phase of work."

NATO Enlargement and the Baltic States: What Can the Great Powers Do? Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "As NATO enlarges and approaches the borders of the Baltic states, it faces one of the most difficult and complex security challenges in contemporary Europe. While the Baltic states crave membership in NATO, Russia deems that outcome as unacceptable, threatens to break cooperation with the West in such an event, and NATO allies themselves remain divided over the wisdom of Baltic membership..."

The United States and Russia into the 21st Century Dr Michael McFaul, Dr R Craig Nation Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Russia can be counted as a European great power from the battle of Poltava in 1709, several generations prior to the American Declaration of Independence. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the Americas were of only modest interest to the huge, autocratic Eurasian land power, and relative neglect was fully reciprocated by the New World's rising maritime republic. A sensitive 19th century observer like Alexis de Toqueville was able to discern the seeds of future rivalry, but his insights were only hypothetical. Russia was pleased to sell all of Alaska to the Yankees for a pittance in the 1860s."

The Crisis in the Russian Economy Dr Vitaly V Shlykov Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "It seems as if the universal laws of economics do not apply to Russia. According to the economic theory, in the period of transition from a rigidly centralized economy to free market, prices are not set, state-owned businesses are privatized, and then there is a phase--2 or 3 years long--of painful adjustment and rising unemployment. After that--and this has been happening in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic states--the economy starts growing."

The Russian Military in the 21st Century Dr Alexei G Arbatov Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "The very title of this monograph is quite ambiguous. On the one hand, only 3 years are left until the 21st century. This is too short a time to forecast or propose any serious change in a huge and complicated organization like the armed forces of a great power. On the other hand, each century lasts 100 years, and without a crystal ball it is impossible to predict the evolution of armed forces over such a long period, least of all at a time of dynamic and revolutionary shifts in the world's technologies, economics, the geopolitical scene, and the relative military balance between nations."

Challenges and Options in the Caucasus and Central Asia Dr Pavel K Baev Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "That Russia has vital strategic interests in the Caucasus and Central Asia can be taken as an established political fact. What is remarkable about this fact is that the nature of these interests as well as the nature and intensity of challenges to them have changed quite drastically during Russia's 5 years of existence as a post-Soviet state. It is no wonder that Russian policymakers are permanently agonizing over reassessment of these interests and are now nowhere close to producing a coherent strategy of their advancement. This monograph will argue that Russia's ability to meet the challenges from the South is a major factor in determining its future as a world power."

Why Russian Policy is Failing in Asia Dr Stephen J Blank Book by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Since its inception as a state, Russia has been both a European and an Asian power. Although Russia today, as was true during much of its history, is torn by an identity crisis over where it belongs, its elites have never renounced Russia's vital interests in Asia and the belief that it should be recognized as a great power there. However, that belief and Moscow's ability to sustain it are now under threat, due, as Dr. Stephen Blank's thorough analysis informs us, to the ongoing failures of Russian policymakers to come to grips with changed Russian and Asian realities."

The Dynamics of Russian Weapon Sales to China Dr Stephen J Blank Monograph by the US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute "Russia has recently sold or transferred many military weapons or technologies to China. Russian state policy has also officially joined with China in a relationship described as a strategic cooperative partnership. Some Russian diplomats also say that there is virtually complete identity with China on all issues of Asian and global security. Dr. Stephen Blank examines this relationship carefully for what it reveals about both states' international security policies."