Recent Publications

Reform and the Revolution in Russian Defense Economics
May 19, 1995 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank As Russia's invasion of Chechnya shows, the Russian armed forces are suffering from tremendous shortages of capable leaders and soldiers. These problems, among others, relate directly to the shortage of funds for the military. Yet Russia cannot afford to spend more than it is now spending on the armed forces. This is the... MORE

Energy, Economics, and Security in Central Asia: Russia and Its Rivals
March 1, 1995 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the creation of five new states in Central Asia. These states: Kazkahstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, have become both the object of international rivalries in Central Asia and the sources of new political forces as they act to enlarge their... MORE

Russia’s Invasion of Chechnya: A Preliminary Assessment
January 1, 1995 — Authors: Dr Stephen J Blank, Dr Earl H Tilford Jr On December 11, 1994, Russia invaded the secessionist republic of Chechnya in the North Caucasus. The aim was to suppress the republic's government, led by General Dzhokar Dudayev, compel it to accept Moscow's authority, and to force it to renounce its bid for independence and sovereignty. This... MORE

Energy and Security in Transcaucasia
September 1, 1994 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank One of the world's enduring regional conflicts is in Nagorno-Karabakh. This war pits local Armenians and their cousins from Armenia against Azerbaidzhan and has enmeshed Russia, Turkey and the Western allies (France, Great Britain, and the United States) in a complex series of regional relationships. The international... MORE

Russian Policy and the Korean Crisis
September 1, 1994 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank North Korea's nuclear program is the greatest current threat to U.S. and Northeast Asian security. The outcome of negotiations over this program will have a tremendous impact on the future of the Korean peninsula and on the vital interests of the United States and neighboring states to North and South Korea: China, Japan,... MORE

The New Russia in the New Asia
July 1, 1994 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank This monograph offers an account of the current struggle inside Russia over Asian policy and of the direction of that struggle. The author describes the dominant Russian viewpoints on policy in Asia. Current proponents of an Asian policy based primarily upon military considerations seem to hold sway. Advocates of this... MORE

Does Russian Democracy Have a Future?
July 1, 1994 — Authors: Dr Stephen J Blank, Dr Earl H Tilford Jr In 1854, on the eve of the Crimea campaign, Antoine Henri Jomini wrote, "The Russian Army is a wall which, however far it may retreat, you will always find in front of you." The political unrest and economic disarray that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disintegration of the... MORE

Russia’s New Doctrine: Two Views
July 1, 1994 — Authors: Dr Michael M Boll, COL James F Holcomb Jr The future direction of Russian security and defense policies is a fundamental issue in contemporary world politics. Future Russian policies will have a major impact on all nuclear issues; on bilateral relations with the United States; and on European, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and Far Eastern... MORE

World View: The 1994 Strategic Assessment from the Strategic Studies Institute
April 1, 1994 — Authors: Dr Steven Metz, Dr Earl H Tilford Jr Every year the analysts at the Strategic Studies Institute prepare current strategic assessments for their particular areas of interest. These assessments are the bedrock of the annual SSI Study Program. This year's assessments seem especially crucial as the strategic situation throughout the world is... MORE