• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Romeo Squared

Defense with a Baltic edge

  • Air Force
  • Army
  • Navy
  • Russia
  • Military strategy
  • About
    • Privacy Policy

Rundown of the Zapad 2017 Scenario

2017-09-05 By Anders Puck Nielsen Leave a Comment

Interesting rundown of Zapad 2017 by Anna Maria Dyner from the Polish Institute of International Affairs. It is interesting that Russia and Belarus use fictional adversaries but real geography for their own side. This seems like a good approach compared to the rather artificial scenarios you sometimes see at NATO exercises where participants end up spending unreasonable amounts of time trying to figure out the dynamics of the scenario.

This part of Dyner’s analysis is too politicized, though:

This year’s scenario shows that Belarusian military leaders, like the Russians, see NATO as the main threat. This proves there is a difference between the thinking and the military doctrine adopted in 2016 that stressed that Belarus does not treat any state as an opponent. At the same time, the exercises plan proves the weaknesses of Belarus, whose authorities, even at a rhetorical level, do not assume Belarus can defend its territory by itself and that support from Russia is crucial. It also indirectly confirms that Russia de facto holds military control over Belarus.

This kind of lightweight finger-pointing makes nobody smarter. Substitute “Poland” for “Belarus” and “USA” for “Russia”, and the same statement would make sense. If anything, this shows that the Belarusian authorities have a realistic understanding of their military circumstances.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit

Related

Filed Under: Military strategy and politics Tagged With: Belarus, Russia

Anders Puck Nielsen is the writer of the Romeo Squared blog. He is a military analyst at the Center for Maritime Operations at the Royal Danish Defense College.

Reader Interactions

< Previous
Next >

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Top Posts

  • Turkey is losing Leopard 2 tanks in Syria at an alarming pace
  • Helicopter scandals for everyone, Black Hawk to the rescue
  • Political officers return in Russia’s military
  • A look at the Baltic Fleet and the defense of Kaliningrad
  • Russia's new Karakurt-class corvette is an aggressive little warship

Follow blog via e-mail

Featured

Book review: Near Abroad — Putin, the West and the Contest over Ukraine and the Caucasus

Gerard Toal has written an insightful book about the geopolitics of the former Soviet Union. Through case studies of South Ossetia and Ukraine, Toal unfolds the complexities of the geopolitical field and exposes prejudices on all sides.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Romeo Squared

  • Air Force
  • Army
  • Navy
  • Russia
  • Military strategy
  • About
    ▲
    • Privacy Policy