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Friday, July 18, 2008

Russia: Armed With Nukes and a Vague Plan

When Vladimir Putin became acting president on New Year's Eve in 1999, he took over a country whose armed forces were struggling to fill combat-ready units to fight guerillas in Chechnya.

More than eight years later, Chechen separatism has been all but squashed, and Putin's successor, new commander in chief Dmitry Medvedev, is in charge of a military that is strong enough to keep Chechnya relatively calm.

However, the armed forces have yet to complete their transition from an expensive Cold War model designed for a global conflict against an entire bloc of hostile nations to a leaner, meaner modern war machine capable of effectively fighting not only large-scale wars, but also low-intensity conflicts with insurgents.

In addition, the military is struggling with internal challenges such as poor recruitment levels, low salaries, hazing, ineffective procurement and lack of transparency.

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