Recent Publications

Civil-Military Relations in Medvedev’s Russia
January 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The best recent scholarship on Russian civil-military relations explicitly addresses this issue’s importance for both domestic and external security. An inquiry into the present state of those relations under conditions of defense reform and the current international situation is of immense analytical and policy relevance... MORE

Russia’s Prospects in Asia
December 1, 2010 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank These three chapters originated in an SSI conference in January 2010 and go to the heart of a question of vital significance for both Asia and Russia, namely what are Russia’s prospects in Asia. The three chapters outline the challenges Russia faces in Asia, the nature of the dynamic and complex Asian security... MORE

The Russian Military Today and Tomorrow: Essays in Memory of Mary Fitzgerald
July 1, 2010 — Authors: Dr Stephen J Blank, Dr Richard Weitz Given the stakes involved in achieving a correct understanding of Russian and Chinese defense policies and military developments, the magnitude of Mary Fitzgerald’s enlightening accomplishments in this regard becomes clear. However, the problems that we have outlined in this volume were not unfamiliar... MORE

Wanted: A Strategy for the Black Sea
June 1, 2010 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the June 2010 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Cover for Wanted: A Strategy for the Black Sea

Resetting the Reset Button: Realism About Russia
December 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the December 2009 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Challenges and Opportunities for the Obama Administration in Central Asia
June 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank President Obama has outlined a comprehensive strategy for the war in Afghanistan which is now the central front of our campaign against Islamic terrorism. The strategy strongly connects our prosecution of that war to our policy in Pakistan and internal developments there as a necessary condition of victory. But the... MORE

Russia and Arms Control: Are There Opportunities for the Obama Administration?
March 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Russo-American relations are generally acknowledged to be at an impasse. Arms control issues feature prominently in that conflicted agenda. Indeed, as of September 2008, the Bush administration was contemplating not just a break in arms talks but actual sanctions, and allowed the bilateral civil nuclear treaty with Russia... MORE

Prospects for U.S.-Russian Security Cooperation
March 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Russia, despite claims made for and against its importance, remains, by any objective standard, a key player in world affairs. Russia is an important barometer of trends in world politics, e.g., the course of democratization in the world. Furthermore, Russia, if it were so disposed, could be the abettor and/or supporter... MORE

Russia Challenges the Obama Administration
December 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the December 2008 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Cover for Russia Challenges the Obama Administration

Towards a New Russia Policy
February 1, 2008 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank It is obvious that U.S.-Russian relations and East-West relations more broadly have recently deteriorated. Yet analyses of why this is the case have often been confined to American policy. The author examines some of the key strategic issues at stake in this relationship and traces that decline to Russian factors which... MORE

Turkmenistan and Central Asia after Niyazov
September 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank President Sapirmurat Niyazov, the all-powerful leader of Turkmenistan, suddenly died on December 21, 2006. Because Central Asia is a cockpit of great power rivalry and a potential theater in the Global War on Terrorism, no sooner had Niyazov died than the great powers were all in Turkmenistan seeking to influence its... MORE

From Munich to Munich
April 1, 2007 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the April 2007 newsletter.Read Now MORE