This report by Felix Chang of the Foreign Policy Research Institute is an interesting synopsis of Russia's military response on a purely military, rather than political, level. Another source of information is this post on Ares about the Russians' joint operations progress. Clearly, it is remarkable how Russia marshalled all elements of national power so quickly, and the Russian military does move with a purpose and discipline that erases all shameful memory of demoralized soldiers selling their weapons for drugs in 1995 Chechnya.
Yet it is questionable, at most, how much one can extrapolate from one quick war against a small country that Russia clearly outclassed. Additionally, there were reports of sloppy logistics management and Georgia managed to shoot down a number of Russian planes. Rampant looting, pillage, and rape in Georgia by Russian soldiers and South Ossetian irregulars is also a troubling sign that the discipline problems present in the wars of the 90's may still linger. Finally, while it may be tempting to compare Russia's application of elements of national power (political stagecraft, joint operations, public affairs) to America, it is worth remembering that rulers of authoritarian states (which is what Russia most certainly is right now) can easily bend the will of the nation to their whims.
If anything, Putin's largest achievement has been reinvigorating the morale, cohesiveness, and discipline of Russia's armed forces. This mirrors the newly invigorated Russian society, flush with almost xenophobic nationalism and petro-dollars. Yet, as the Asia Times' Spengler points out, this spurt may be temporary as Russia still has serious socio-economic fault lines (most notably a rapidly shrinking population). Should those faults suddenly erupt, Russia's armed forces may suffer like they did after the Soviet collapse.
Hey Adam,
In my blog, I also linked to an ISN Security watch report which analyzed Russia's military performance. Their report focused on the underperformance of the Russian air force and its navy. Additionally, it also called attention to the problems with soldier retention in the Russian military as a whole, and the high rate of hazings of new recruits.
http://nykrindc.blogspot.com/2008/08/more-reverberations-from-russo-georgian.html
Posted by: nykrindc | August 23, 2008 at 05:30 PM
Yeah, the air force part is especially egregious, as well as the logistics foul-ups during the armor campaign. If the hazings are still around, then that does not bode well for the future of the force.
Posted by: A.E. | August 23, 2008 at 06:13 PM
"Rampant looting, pillage and rape in Georgia by Russian soldiers..." I've no idea where you've gotten your sources from but if they are indeed valid, it's gonna be a mar on Russia's track record. Then again, the Russians don't really give a damn about "human rights", so I've no idea what this is gonna lead to. More states joining nato?
Posted by: Yours Truly | August 24, 2008 at 11:03 PM
To be fair, it seems that most of it is the product of Chechen units incorporated into the Russian army, as well as the South Ossetians.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=§ion=theworld&xfile=data/theworld/2008/August/theworld_August838.xml
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=19334
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/23/europe/EU-Georgia-Russia-Looting.php
Posted by: A.E. | August 25, 2008 at 08:48 AM