Russia’s Military Reform: Putin’s Last Card

Abstract

The ongoing reform of Russia’s Armed Forces is currently reaching a critical juncture. As the country’s political and military leadership faces a new geopolitical threat environment, it has strived to upgrade its capabilities to increase power projection. Even following drastic changes after the 2008 Georgia War, Russia’s Armed Forces are still lagging behind its western counterparts. The evidence discussed in this piece illustrates why a poor state of civil-military relations, a lack of human and financial resources and low levels of innovation in the military-industrial complex have constrained the outcome of Russia’s ambitious reform agenda.