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28 Feb 01 - Conference: European Trends in Military Restructuring

IISS Russian Military Reform Programme

28 February-2 March 2001, Moscow

This conference was held at the former Frunze Military Academy, which has now been redesignated the Combined Arms Academy. The purpose of the seminar was twofold. Firstly, it aimed to help enhance understanding of European strategies for reform of their armed forces to meet post Cold-War security challenges among the new generation of military leaders in Russia. This aspect of the conference was seen as especially important, because at the present time, the Russian military academies' teaching staff and their military and civilian officials have very limited access to first hand knowledge of European military policies. The second objective of the seminar was to analyse the relevance and possible lessons which may be able to be drawn from the recent European experience for the restructuring of Russia's own armed forces.   With a view to bridging this gap, the seminar was principally directed toward the staff and officials of both the Combined Arms Academy and the General Staff Academy. The Russian participants at the conference included members of the Duma Defence Committee and a large number of officers from various parts of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the General Staff. The departments represented included the Centre for Military-Strategic Analysis, the Main Operations Department, the Main Operations-Mobilization Department, the Department of Logistics, and the Department of Economic Analysis and Forecasts. Media representatives from Independent Military Review, Itogi, and ITAR-TASS as well as numerous academic experts also took part in the conference.   Senior European officials and military officers came to Moscow to share their experience on military reform with their Russian counterparts, as well as to obtain a better understanding of the key challenges to, and directions of, the Russian military's current restructuring.   The conference started with discussion on the key threats and challenges facing Europe in the next decade. European perspectives on the subject was presented by William Ehrman, Director International Security at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Henry Zipper de Fabiani, Deputy Director of the French Ministry of Defence's Directorate of Strategic Affairs, Chris Donnelly, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of NATO, as well as retired Major General Armagan Kuloglu, from Turkey, who is now at the Centre for Eurasian Strategic Studies, Ankara. Sergei Rogov, Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada at the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented a Russian view.   The second part of the conference was dedicated to discussion of the key principles of European states' national strategies for restructuring their armed forces for new missions. This subject was covered by key senior military officers who have been directly involved into developing their national military reform policies. They included retired German General Peter-Heinrich Carstens, former Vice Chair of the Weizsacker Commission, Major-General John Reith, UK Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy), Major General Miezcyslaw Cieniuch, Chief, Strategic Planning Directorate, Polish General Staff, and Brigadier General Michael Moore, an advisor to the Swedish Minister of Defence. Major-General Alexandr Filippovich of the General Staff's Main Operations Department spoke about the Russian experience. There was more specific discussions on the new personnel requirements and challenges for the transition from conscript to all-volunteer armed forces. Colonel Bertrand Ract-Madoux (France) and Colonel Ignacio Pedrosa Rey(Spain) shared their transition experiences while Colonel Rolf Bescht (Germany) covered the key principles of the German concept of civil-military relations. Major General Alexsandr Filippovich of the Main Operations-Mobilisation Directorate detailed the new plans for military restructuring in Russia. Another important issues was reform of budgeting and defence programming methodologies. Here representatives of the Hungarian, Bulgarian, and Polish Defence Ministries shared their experience of transition to full NATO standards of defence budgeting and programming. Major-General Viktor Storonin, the Chief of the Directorate for Economic Analysis and Forecasts of the Ministry of Defence, described the efforts of the Russian Ministry of Defence to raise non-budgetary resources for the social support of servicemen and their families through commercial activities.   The conference brought together the heads of the British and French joint staff academies, Air Vice-Marshal Brian Burridge of the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College, and Général de division aérienne (Major General(Air)) Patrick Porchier, Director of the Collège InterarmAeacute;es de Défense – the Joint Services Staff College – as well as German Brigadier General Klaus Wittman, Director of Faculty at the Fuhrungsakademie, Hamburg. They shared their experience on updating the curriculum and teaching methods for higher military education with their Russian colleagues, Major General Viktor Ryabchuk of the Combined Arms Academy and Colonel Alexandr Kopylov of the General Staff Academy. Another important subject covered by the conference was information policies in armed conflicts. These are critical both for maintaining the reputation of military forces and for the recruiting of highly professional personnel. Brigadier Sebastian Roberts of the British Army spoke about public information strategies for military operations, with specific reference to the impact of new technology on the speed of information transmission and the necessary MOD reaction to it. Vadim Soloviev, the Editor in Chief of Independent Military Review, contributed a Russian journalist's perspective on the recent difficulties in relations between the press, attempting to cover military issues, and the Russian authorities, seeking to restrict press access to information as well as their freedom to publish detailed analysis on military reform issues. Colonel Sergei Korotkov from the Main Operations Department presented the Russian MOD view on the information warfare operations carried out in Kosovo and in Chechnya.   The International Institute for Strategic Studies was represented by Francois Heisbourg, the Vice-Chair of the IISS Council, who aired his views on the European Union's defence policy and the possibilities for Russia–EU co-operation on defence issues, as well as Terence Taylor, IISS Assistant Director, and Oksana Antonenko, Research Fellow for Russia and Eurasia.   Overall, the conference provided a good opportunity for European countries to share their military reform experience with the Russian military and to greater inform the Academies' personnel and other officers attending the conference about the current status of European military reorganisation efforts. The Institute received a good amount of positive feedback from the Russian participants, and the conference was helpful in stimulating debate among Russian military experts about the future direction of military reform. The foreign participants departed with a greater understanding, in turn, of the many difficult issues facing the Russian Armed Forces today.   Agenda  Wednesday February 28, 2001 09.00-09.30 Opening Remarks Colonel General Leonid Zolotov, Head, General Purpose Force Academy Terence Taylor Assistant Director, International Institute for Strategic Studies Major-General Pavel Zolatarev, President, Russian Foundation for Support of Military Reform 09.30-13.00 Plenary Session 1 Security threats and challenges for Europe in the next decade Chairman: Terence Taylor, Assistant Director, IISS Speakers: William Ehrman, Director, International Security, UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Sergei Rogov- Director, The Institute of the US and Canada, Russian Academy of Science Henry Zipper de Fabiani, Directorate for Strategic Affairs, French Ministry of Defence Col. Vladimir Ostankov - Centre for Military-Strategic Studies, General Staff of Armed Forces, RF Chris Donnelly, Special Adviser to the Secretary General of NATO Maj. Gen. Armagan Kuloglu, Head, Geopolitics & Strategic Department, Centre for Eurasia Strategic Studies (Turkey) Lev Klenatsky- Department of Foreign Policy Planning, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, RF 14.00-18.00 Plenary Session 2 National Programmes for restructuring of the armed forces in the new strategic environment Chairman: Colonel-General Leonid Zolotov, Head, General Purpose Forces Academy Speakers: Major-General John Reith, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, UK MOD General Peter-Heinrich Carstens, Retired General, former Vice Chair of the Weizsacker Commission, Advisor to German Minister of Defence Colonel Bertrand Ract-Madoux, Military Assistant to French CHOD Major-General Alexandr Filippovich - The Main Operations Department, General Staff of Armed Forces, RF Major-General Miezcyslaw Cieniuch, Chief, General Directorate of Strategic Planning, General Staff of Polish Armed Forces   Thursday, March 1, 2001   09.00-11.00 Plenary Session 3 Budgetary Implications of balancing long-term reform programmes against short term operational requirements Chairman: Major General Pavel Zolotarev, President, Foundation for the Support of Military Reform Speakers Major-General Viktor Storonin - Chief of Directorate for Economic Analysis and Expertise, Ministry of Defence, RF Major Grzegorz Sodolski, Chief, NATO Co-operation Branch, Budgetary Department, Polish MND Colonel Dobromir Totev, Deputy Chief of Defence Planning Directorate, Bulgarian MOD Colonel Nikolai Ivanov - Main Directorate for Military Budget and Finance Terence Taylor, Assistant Director, IISS 11.30-15.30 Plenary Session 4 New Operational missions; organisational and personnel requirements Chairman: Major General Alexsandr Filippovich - Main Operations Directorate, RF General Staff Speakers Colonel Bertrand Ract-Madoux, MA to French CHOD Colonel (Air Force) Ignacio Pedrosa Rey, Adviser to the Under-Secretary of Defence, Ministry of Defence of Spain Major General Vladimir Konstinov, Main Operational-Mobilisation Directorate, RF General Staff Brigadier Michael Moore, Adviser to the Minister of Defence (Sweden) Colonel Rolf Bescht, Chair, Working Group on International Development, German MOD -Armed Forces in German Society and the German Concept of "Innere Führung" (Leadership and Civic Education) Lt Col Dr Miklos Nagy, Hungarian MOD Colonel Vasiliy Voblenko - Centre for Military-Strategic Studies, General Staff, RF 15:30-17.30 Plenary Session 5 Public Information strategies in military operations Chairman: Oksana Antonenko, Research Fellow, IISS Speakers: Brigadier Sebastian Roberts, Director of Corporate Communication, (Army) UK MOD Eric Povel, Netherlands Information Officer, NATO Office of Press and Information Colonel Sergei Korotkov - Main Operations Department, General Staff of Armed Forces, RF Vadim Solovyev, Editor in Chief, Independent Military Review   Friday March 2, 2001   09.00-13.00 Plenary Session 6 Adapting military training and education systems to new strategic and operational requirements Chairman: Lieutenant General Eduard Vorobiev, Member Defence Committee, Russian State Duma Speakers: Colonel General Zolotov, Head, General Purpose Force Academy Air Vice-Marshal Brian Burridge CBE, Commandant, Joint Services Command and Staff College (UK) Major-General (Air) Patrick Porchier, Director, Joint Defence College, France Colonel Alexander Kopylov , General Staff Academy Brigadier General Dr Klaus Wittman, Director of Faculty, Führungsakademie, (Command and Staff College) Hamburg Professor Chris Bellamy, Royal Military College of Science (UK) 14.00-15.30 Plenary Session 7 Evolution of European Security Institutions and defence capabilities (ESDP and NATO) Chairman: Dr Dmitry Danilov, Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences Speakers: Francois Heisbourg, Vice-Chairman of the IISS Council Andrey Krutko, European Cooperation Department Ministry of Foreign Affairs Evgeniy Buzhynski, Deputy Head, International Treaties Department Main Directorate of International Military Co-operation, Ministry of Defence 15:30-16:00   Concluding Remarks   Participants Dmitry Afinogenov, Major General Head of Department Security Council Staff Vladimir Baranovsky, Deputy Head of Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences Col Gen Viktor Baryn'kin, Deputy Head General Staff Academy Colonel Alexandr Beliykov, General Purpose Forces Academy Colonel Vadim Begishev, Main Directorate of Combat Training, RF General Staff Alexandr Belkin, Executive Director Council on Foreign and Defence Policy Andrei Binev, Radio Russia Oleg Blinov, General Purpose Forces Academy Alexsandr Bovin, Radio Russia Vladimir Bogomolov, Security Council Staff. Evgeniy Buzhynski, Deputy Head International Treaties Department, the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation, RF Ministry of Defence Larisa Vdovichenko, Security Council Staff Vasiliy Voblenko, Head of Department Centre for Military-Strategic Analysis, General Staff Yevgeniy Bruzgin Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Ilya Bulavinov 'Kommersant' Newspaper Eduard Vorob'ev MP, Defence Committee, the State Duma Ivan Butsykov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Mikhael Vinnichenko Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Victor Vinogradov Lieutenant General, Deputy Head (Faculty) General Purpose Forces Academy Major-General Alexandr Vladimirov, Vice-President Committee of Military Experts Pavel Gendel Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Colonel General Ivan Golushko, Head of Section, Academy of Military Science Academician Alexandr Gol'ts, Itogi Magazine Valery Dvoinykh Colonel, 27th Research Institute Ministry of Defence Dmirtry Danilov, Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Science Colonel Yuriy Degtyarov, Main Directorate General Staff Boris Drozhin Major General, Foundation for Support of Military Reform Igor Dubrov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Vycheslav Eliseev Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Tatiana Eremina, Radio Russia Nikolai Efimov, Editor-in-Chief, "Krasnaya Zvezda" newspaper Vitaly Zhurkin, Director Institute of Europe, Russian Academy of Sciences Major-General Alexandr Zakharov, Deputy Head(Faculty) General Staff Academy Vladimir Zakharov, Russian Institute for Strategic Studies Major-General Vladimir Zolotarev, Head Military History Institute Major-General Pavel Zolotarev, President Foundation for Support of Military Reform Leonid Zolotov Colonel General, Head General Purpose Forces Academy Colonel Pavel Ivanov, Head of Department Centre of Military-Strategic Analysis, General Staff Colonel Nikolai Ivanov, Main Directorate of Defence Budget and Finance Ivan Ilykhin Major General, General Purpose Forces Academy Vitaly Kaduk Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Valentin Kalenik Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Gennadiy Karpov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Vycheslav Kashaikin Colonel, Institute of Military History Colonel Sergei Klishchenko Main Department, General Staff Oleg Kobozev Colonel, 27th Research Institute, MOD Irina Kobrinskaya, Institute of Obshchestvennyi dogovor. Sergei Korotkov Colonel, Main Operations Department, General Staff Alexsandr Korabelnikov Colonel, General Purpose Academy Alexandr Konovalov President, Institute of Strategic Assessment Major-General Vladimir Konstantinov, Main Operational- Mobilisation Directorate Alexsandr Kopylov Colonel, General Staff Academy Vasily Kopytko Major General, General Purpose Forces Academy Colonel-General Varfolomei Korobushin, First Vice President Academy of Military Science, Academician Colonel-General Nikolai Kotlovtsev, Honourable Chairman Academic of Military Science. Colonel-General Stanislav Kochemasov, Academy of Military Science Academician Sergei Koshelev Lieutenant Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Igor Kravchenko, Director Centre for Asian-Atlantic Studies Diplomatic Academy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andrei Krutko, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sergei Kukushkin Lieutenant Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Yuri Kukushkin, Head Political-Military Department Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mikhael Leshin Colonel, Institute of Military History Army General Vladimir Lobov, Academy of Military Science Academician. Colonel Alexandr Lipatnikov, Main Department General Staff Sergei Lipatov Lieutenant Colonel, Institute of Military History Valerii Mizing Institute of the US and Canada Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Maurov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Yuri Malashenko Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Colonel-General Valerii Manilov, First Deputy Chief of General Staff Colonel Valerii Man'ko, Head of Department Centre for Military-Strategic Analysis, General Staff of Armed Forces Colonel-General Andrey Nikolaev MP, Chairman Defence Committee State Duma Vadim Markushin, Newspaper Editor Correspondent Red Star Georgy Medvedev Major, Main Operations Department General Staff Anatoli Melukhov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Anatoli Novikov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Alexsandr Obernibesov Major General, Assistant to Chief of Staff Coordination of Military Cooperation Colonel Vladimir Ostankov, Deputy Head Centre for Military-Strategic Analysis, General Staff of Armed Forces. Colonel Alexandr Pavlov, Main Operations-Mobilisation Directorate General Staff Tatiana Parhalina, Institute of Social Research Information Alexsandr Pervukhin Lt Col, General Purpose Forces Academy Oleg Pestov Lt Col, General Purpose Forces Academy Igor Paopov Lt Col, Institute of Military History Colonel Sergei Prohorov, Main Operations-Mobilisation Department, General Staff of Armed Forces Vladimir Ravin Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Colonel Yuriy Romanchenko, Centre for Military-Strategic Analysis, General Staff Sergei Rogov, Director Institute for US and Canada Studies Russian Academy of Science Peter Romashkin, Member of Staff Defence Committee State Duma Colonel Andrey Savkov, Main Department General Staff Colonel Vladimir Sal'nikov, Academy of Military Science Professor Samoilov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Vycheslav Sedov Colonel, Press Service MOD Valiery Sidorov, Advisor State Committee on Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign Countries Vladimir Sizov Colonel, General Staff Academy Ivan Sliva Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Victor Smolykov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Major-General Viktor Storonin, Head Department of Economic Analyses and Forecasts, Ministry of Defence Vadim Soloviev, Acting Editor Independent Military Review Alexsandr Sudtelya Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Vladimir Suvarov Colonel, Institute of Military History Arnold Telminov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Yuri Terentyev, Head of Department Academy of Military Sciences, Professor Viktor Tishkov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Dmitri Trenin, Associate Director Carnegie Moscow Centre Valerii Uskov Captain First Rank, Main Department of International Military Cooperation Yevgeniy Falaleev Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Leonid Fedorov Major General, General Purpose Forces Academy Yuri Fedorov, Head of Department Institute of US and Canada Studies Pavel Felgengauer, Independent Military Analyst Major-General Alexandr Filippovich, Main Operations Department General Staff Sergei Frltsev Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Ivan Kahilevich Lt Col, General Purpose Forces Academy Mikhael Khodarenok, Correspondent Independent Military Review Antolii Yurkin, ITAR-TASS Valiery Cheban Major General, Advisor to the Chairman Defence Committee State Duma Andrei Chernov Colonel, Main Operations Department General Staff Valerii Cherepanov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Anatoli Shavelkin Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Alexandr Shevchuk Lt General, General Purpose Forces Academy Yuri Shibanov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Yuri Shibin Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Yuri Shlyk Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Vitali Shlykov Member, Council on Foreign & Defence Policy Boris Schitikov Colonel, General Purpose Forces Academy Yuri Shkurko Colonel, Head of Section Department of Economic Analysis & Forecasts, MOD Arkardi Usnikov Lt Col, General Purpose Forces Academy Valerii Yrynich, Advisor Defence Committee Russian State Duma Yakov Fomenko, Interpreter Andrey Petchenko, Interpreter Oksana Antonenko, IISS Research Fellow Director of Russia and NIS Programme Professor Chris Bellamy, Royal Military College of Science (UK) Colonel Rolf Bescht, Chair Working Group on International Development, German MOD Air Vice-Marshal Brian Burridge CBE Commandant, Joint Services Command and Staff College (UK) General Peter-Heinrich Carstens Retired General, former Vice Chair of the Weizsacker Commission, Advisor to German Minister of Defence Major-General Miezcyslaw Cieniuch, Chief General Directorate of Strategic Planning, General Staff of Polish Armed Forces Chris Donnelly, Special Adviser to the Secretary General of NATO William Ehrman, Director International Security UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Rose Gottemoeller, Senior Associate Carnegie Endowment for International Peace David Gowan, Deputy Head of Mission British Embassy Lieutenant Colonel Hermann Hanke, Deputy Defence Attaché, German Embassy Francois Heisbourg, Vice-Chairman of the IISS Council. Susan Hyland, First Secretary (Political) British Embassy Moscow Air Commodore Jake Jarron, Defence and Air Attaché, British Embassy Moscow Maj. Gen. Armagan Kuloglu, Head Geopolitics & Strategic Dept Centre for Eurasia Strategic Studies (Turkey) Colonel Christopher Langton, Military Attaché British Embassy Moscow Brigadier Michael Moore, Adviser to the Minister of Defence (Sweden) Brigadier-General Peter Nagel, Defence Attaché, German Embassy Lt. Col. Doctor Miklos Nagy, Hungarian MOD Colonel (Air Force) Ignacio Pedrosa Rey, Adviser to the Under-Secretary of Defence, Ministry of Defence of Spain Major-General (Air) Patrick Porchier, Director Joint Defence College France Eric Povel, Netherlands Information Officer NATO Office of Press and Information Colonel Bertrand Ract-Madoux, Military Assistant to French CHOD Brigadier Sebastian Roberts, Director of Corporate Communication, (Army) UK MOD Major-General John Reith, Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, UK MOD Colin Robinson, Research Assistant, IISS Major Grzegorz Sodolski, Chief NATO Co-operation Branch, Budgetary Department, Polish MND Terence Taylor, Assistant Director IISS Colonel Dobromir Totev, Deputy Chief of Defence Planning Directorate Bulgarian MOD Brigadier General Dr Klaus Wittman, Director of Faculty Führungsakademie (Command and Staff College) Hamburg Henry Zipper de Fabiani, Deputy Director for Strategic Affairs French Ministry of Defence Major General Ivan Parapounov, Defence Attaché Bulgarian Embassy Colonel Christopher Langton, Military Attaché British Embassy Brigadier General Albert Moinard, Defence Attaché French Embassy Major General Miklos Torok, Defence Attaché Hungarian Embassy Rear Admiral Tufan Mimir, Defence Attaché Turkish Embassy Colonel Ibrahim Unal, Assistant Defence Attaché Turkish Embassy Giles Whitell, The Times Robert Cottrell, Financial Times Robert Nurick, Director Carnegie Moscow Center Anatol Lieven, Senior Associate Carnegie Endowment for International Peace John Reppert, Harvard University Captain Christian Allerman, Naval Attaché, Embassy of Sweden Major General Stalislav Wozwiak, Defence Attaché Polish Embassy