Year: 1997
Type: article
Abstract: The internal and economic transformation of Russia has reached a stage where every external disruption could lead to long-lasting disorder in the organism of the state."--D.Miliutin "There is something erotic in everything that happens on the distant frontiers of the Empire."--P.Valuev [1] This essay focuses on the Russian military's encounter with the new borderlands.Such an encounter is by no means unique in Russian history.Since the earliest days, Russia's borderlands have been a source of danger, of conquest, of military innovation and disaster.These lands have played an enormous role in shaping the Russian state itself, looming in the earliest days as a threat demanding the full mobilization of Russian society by the state and later as a source of imperial temptation at the expense of internal development.The Russian military's latest encounter with the borderlands is likely to be every bit as decisive as past encounters, for Russian forces are already engaged there and are likely to remain so for some time to come.The borderlands are likely to influence the structure and mission of the Russian armed forces, as well as basic security perceptions, not only of the military, but of the Russian leadership as well.
Author: Sherman W. Garnett
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3138348307