Recasting the red star
Subtitle: Russia forges tradition and technology through toughness
By: Timothy L. Thomas
Contributors: Foreign Military Studies Office (Fort Leavenworth, Kan.)
Publisher: Foreign Military Studies Office
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Fort Leavenworth, KS
Language: eng
Number of pages: 390
Subjects: Information warfare; Cyberinfrastructure; Command and control systems; Military intelligence; Military surveillance; Armed Forces; Reorganization; Military History
Description: The metaphor "recasting the red star" emphasizes the changing nature of Russia's military which still relishes its legacy. For nearly a century, the Red Star has been a symbol of Russia's armed forces, which are still regaining their strength as they emerge from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Despite failed reform initiatives, and Russia's two wars fought against Chechen extremists and the war fought against Georgia over South Ossetia, the military is advancing and modernizing. Its weaponry and equipment updates represent responses to the perceived impact of information-age technologies on military affairs. Russia's military leaders have integrated these digital processes into their operational art and strategic planning. Further, they've reorganized the military and launched a serious campaign against corruption in the force. This book tracks the modernization through three threads of tradition, technology, and toughness, with the latter thread represented by the staunch support that President Dmitriy Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov have provided the reform effort.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Tradition; title: Military reform - a "new" look for real?; title: From Peter to post-Putin : something old, something new in Russia's military traditions; title: Military thought : Russia's inheritance from the Soviet period. Russia's operational environment; title: Technology; title: Russia and military deception; title: Russia informatizes its military; title: Russia's new C4ISR : the information strike system; title: From Russia, with asymmetry : future war and nanotechnology battles; title: The Russia-Georgia conflict; title: The bear went through the mountain - Russia appraises its five-day war in South Ossetia; title: Operational deception in South Ossetia - who set the "bear trap"?; title: Russian information warfare theory and the consequences of August 2008; title: Three books on the conflict; title: Conclusions; title: Russia's new vision.