Russia's Military Discusses the Definition of War
Abstract
Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov, in March 2017, noted about war that In the Russian Federation Military Doctrine it [war] is called a form of the resolution of interstate or intra-state contradictions with the employment of military force.1 In the first half of 2017, however, a detailed study was underway in Russia to ascertain if contemporary technologies and conditions had caused wars definition to change. Warfare is now so destructive (via precise targeting capabilities and increased yields) and transparent (via satellite imagery, sensors, listening devices, etc.) that force on force warfare between major nations possessing these capabilities appears less likely than during Cold War times, although it is not ruled out in areas like the Baltics. In 2017 Russian military experts, from active and retired officers to candidates for doctoral dissertations, conducted a serious discussion of potential ways to reconsider war in line with these developments. The discussion appears to have started in 2016 when, for example, Russias General Staff Academy held a conference on the meaning of the term warfare under current conditions. A session of the Security Council of Russia the same year also considered the issue of wars definition, analyzing the characteristics and trends in wars emergence and evolution. These initial discussions apparently kicked off a far-ranging interchange among experts. The experts did not agree on a new determination of war, as some analysts stated that military means alone have not totally disappeared, especially when major powers (Russia; the US)confront lesser powers (Ukraine; Iraq, respectively), while other experts elevated nonmilitary means of warfare to a new level of importance and even envisioned the potential for such means to capture territory or cause political change. Gerasimov planned to convene a forum in August2017 to discuss the results of the interchanges. No report from that meeting has ever surfaced.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1157094
Entities
People
- Timothy L. Thomas
Organizations
- MITRE Corporation