Window on Eurasia

Russian Army Now Beyond Reform, Must Be Replaced, Expert Says

Paul Goble

Vienna, July 31, 2006 – The Russian military suffers from such inbred systemic problems that it cannot be reformed but must be replaced if it is to fulfill its missions of defending the country’s security and of serving as a school of civic nationalism for Russia’s diverse population, according to one of Moscow’s leading military analysts.

In an article posted online last Friday, Aleksandr Tsyganok, a
corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences and
the head of the Center for Military Planning, argues that most of the
criticism the military has received and most of the proposals for
addressing its problems miss the mark.

Not surprisingly, Tsyganok notes, Russian journalists and politicians
have focused on the abuse of soldiers and the misuse of power by
officers and on the inability of the military to perform well in
Chechnya and other “hotspots” rather than on the systemic reasons
for these problems
[http://www.politcom.ru/print.php?id=3141].

All too often, he continues, the media reports a particularly horrific
example of one or another of these shortcomings, politicians demand
that the guilty parties be identified, and then, even if those responsible
are punished, the system that generated the specific cases continues to
operate. And more abuses of the same kind continue.

Indeed, this sequence -- of abuses, followed by charges, followed by
disciplinary proceedings -- has in many cases prevented many Russians
in government and out from seeing just how great the need for reform is
and thus serves to protect those whose positions might be threatened by any
genuine reform.

If one takes a broader view, Tsyganok says, one can see that “it is
necessary to change” many things: the draft, contract service, the
promotion system for officers, the formation of territorial and
ethnically based units, and the organization of support services for
those in uniform.

Tsyganok offers proposals on each of these. Among the most intriguing
are the following. First, he calls for raising the draft age to 21 and
excluding from the draft all those convicted of serious crimes. Taking
those two steps alone would reduce tensions over deferments for
education and improve the quality of soldiers.

Second, he urges the creation of a professional sergeants corps, much
like those in NATO armies. Such non-commissioned officers, he suggests,
are a requirement for unit cohesion, especially given that Russia
almost certainly will have to continue the draft for some time to come.

Third, Tsyganok argues that officers not only should have to advance
step by step through the ranks but also should be promoted on the basis
of an open competition, one that would allow those who may have
violated the rights of their subordinates to be weeded out of the higher
positions.

Fourth, he suggests that the Russian government should reconsider its
current opposition to the complexion of units on a territorial and
ethnic basis. Units formed on those bases, German and Israeli studies
suggest, not only are more capable as fighting forces but have fewer
disciplinary problems.

And fifth, he urges that the armed forces must have special staffs
intended to promote “the conception of civic (not ethnic)
nationalism” so that each soldier will view himself as “a defender
of Russia.” Such work must bear “a super-ethnic, super-confessional,
and super-party character.”

To promote that identity among soldiers, Tsyganok argues, it is also
important to establish civilian control over the military, to eliminate
specifically military prosecutors and court, and to introduce the
position of human rights ombudsman for everyone serving in uniform.

Trying to do any or all of these things in the current Russian military
would be difficult if not impossible, Tsganok argues, because of the
values and traditions of the existing officer corps and its
relationship with the country’s top political leadership. Consequently, Tsyganok
ends his article with a most provocative proposal:

“While leaving the current army undisturbed,” the longtime military
analyst writes, “it is necessary to begin the building of a new army,
on new principles and according to new rules which will correspond to
the demands of the contemporary world and the demands of Russian
society.”

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