Soviet Union

High Readiness Conscription – Case Studies from Today and the Cold War

Following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, several European states re-introduced conscription while others took steps to increase the effectiveness of existing conscription arrangements.  Compulsory military service, often regarded as an anachronism in the post-Cold War period, has thus re-emerged as a means to ensure that relatively large wartime force structures can be generated at low cost and, in some cases, to provide personnel to standing units.

Read more
Image for High Readiness Conscription – Case Studies from Today and the Cold War Image for High Readiness Conscription – Case Studies from Today and the Cold War
,

Europe’s Broken Order and the Prospect of a New Cold War

The Russian and western visions of European security have profoundly different ideational roots: balance of power embedded in realist geopolitics versus liberal rules-based order. Russia is a revisionist power aiming to re-establish a European security order based on the balance of power, including a recognition of its empire and sphere of influence. Russia’s aggressive pursuit of this vision has forced the West to defend the rules-based liberal order in Europe and beyond.

Read more
Image for Europe’s Broken Order and the Prospect of a New Cold War Image for Europe’s Broken Order and the Prospect of a New Cold War

Putin’s Counterintelligence State

It is far from inevitable that the looming historical defeat of the Russian armed forces in their full-blown invasion of Ukraine will shutter the core of the counterintelligence state. On the contrary, the growing militarisation and securitisation of Russian society will most likely bring the Federal Security Service (FSB), the regime’s ‘sword and shield,’ to the forefront as a primary instrument of maintaining subservience and order.

Read more
Image for Putin’s Counterintelligence State Image for Putin’s Counterintelligence State