Russia is reintroducing political officers – zampolits – that bring back memories of political commissars from the USSR. The goal is to ensure patriotism and political unity behind president Putin’s line.
Military Leadership
Russian officers struggle with work-life balance
Long work hours are a problem in the Russian military. But now initiatives are implemented to reduce the burden and make life more bearable for the Russian officers and their families.
Civilians can know military stuff too
Lately there has been a heated debate in War on the Rocks about Professional Military Education. It has turned into something of a spectacle where military and civilian teachers respectively argue that their own competencies are the most important. Tammy S. Schultz provides the sane perspective in her piece titled The Road Less Travelled: Both […]
Forbidding soldiers to talk on the phone doesn’t improve security
Russia introduces rules to limit phone use in the military. The purpose is to save money on phone bills and to improve information security. The consequence may well be the opposite – worse security and wasted money on bureaucratic control.
Let’s hope insurgents don’t learn basic infantry skills
Why is it that Western infantry has been so dominant in battle during counterinsurgency operations? The casualty numbers are exceptionally unequally distributed between Western forces and the insurgents. Conventional wisdom attributes a lot of importance on superior technology such as air superiority, surveillance systems, precision munitions, command-and-control systems, and night vision capabilities. But what if […]
Is Finland setting the example for military leadership?
Finland is getting positive attention for their approach to military leadership and the remarkable defense preparedness of the Finns.
Micromanagement or proper oversight?
Insightful piece by Micah Zenko in Foreign Policy on the principal-agent relationship between politicians and the military: Yet, in every conversation I have had with civilian and military officials, I cannot recall a military officer — at any level — having received guidance or direction that was helpful in developing plans or in fulfilling a […]
Exercise scenarios tend to be a waste of time
The fictional scenario for Zapad 2017 has gone viral as a joke on social media, and that has led The Wall Street Journal to write a piece on the made-up settings that militaries use for training: The U.S., its NATO allies, Russia and other militaries around the world use fictional scenarios to make their military […]
