The Russian Defense Policy blog has an interesting look at the wages for Russian soldiers, and it does not look great. Corrected for inflation, the wages for Russian soldiers have dropped significantly over the last decade. With RF inflation at roughly 8 percent this year, overall prices for essentials paid by Russian servicemen are now […]
Archives for December 2021
The argument that AUKUS is a weak security deal between Australia and two unreliable allies
Sam Roggeveen has a razor sharp critique of the new AUKUS security framework in War on the Rocks. In fact, I have only become more skeptical of AUKUS since it was announced by Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson, and President Joe Biden. I argued at the time that these were the wrong submarines […]
Russia has a now or never dilemma in Ukraine
Russia’s far-reaching demands from NATO and the prospect of a war in Ukraine can seem irrational. But Russia is facing a dilemma that if they do nothing, they are on a trajectory to losing in the long term. So even if Russia isn’t sure what the outcome will be in a war, they may still try it as a tool to stop the process of losing.
The five “nots” of AUKUS
Interesting rundown of what AUKUS is and is not by Michael Shoebridge for ICDS Diplomaatia magazine: AUKUS, though, is five ‘Nots’. It is not just a pact about sharing nuclear submarine technology that leads to Australia acquiring and operating eight of these “peak predator” deterrent weapons. It is not a military alliance that contains commitments […]