Military forces in transition
Volume: 65 pages, pdf
Description:
‘This is is the moment of truth in the revival of the prestige of the armed forces. We must not lose our bearing in this maelstrom .” Minister of Defense Shaposhnikov Like the rest of Soviet society, the Soviet military institution is undergoing a traumatic transformation. Taken off guard by the sudden and dramatic changes in the European geostrategic equation, sm arting from the initial deleterious effects of Gorbachev’s domestic re form program , and now changing over its senior leadership in the aftermath of the failed coup, the military is attempting to redefine its m ission and restructure its forces for an uncertain future. As an institution whose status and capabilities depended heavily on the perception of an imminent Western military threat and the support o f an authoritarian governm e nt, the Soviet m ilitary is having a difficult tim e adapting to the political realities of the post-Cold War era. A large reduction in manpower, the withdrawal of its forces from Eastern Europe, constraints on its budget and resources, a sharp drop in its public standing, and now the challenge of a new center-republic relationship have plunged the m ilitary establishm ent into an unprecedented crisis of its own.