Neotraditionalism and the Military: The Challenge of Reform in Communist Systems
Abstract
The Soviet military leaderships' abusive form of neotraditionalism, represented by the absence of any concept of a legal order, was the basis of the factional breakdown of the military during the Gorbachev era. Without a legal recourse to protect themselves, Soviet military members were completely dependent on their superiors. The result of the leaderships' absolute power was a dysfunctional organization in which senior officers used their power arbitrarily to fulfill personal interests. Gorbachev's attempts to form a legal state directly challenged the absolute power of a military leaders. By protecting individual rights, the legal state would end the senior officer's unlimited authority. Recognizing this threat to their personal power, the senior leadership allied with like-minded individuals and groups and used their resources to establish their own forum to engender support of their position. However, the junior military officers welcomed the legal state as a method by which they could achieve personal career satisfaction while also improving the overall organization. Therefore, they supported the reforms suggested by Gorbachev and saw Yeltsin as their champion in the reform effort.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA265507
Entities
People
- Brenda J. Vallance
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology