The International Institute for Strategic Studies

Sunday 12 February 2012

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