Full Description
This book examines the Russian Federation's military interventions in the post-Cold War era.
The work connects key events - the Chechen and Georgian Wars, the annexation of Crimea, the Syrian intervention and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine - in a coherent narrative, showing how these conflicts grew out of Russia's authoritarian turn, aggressive nationalism, imperial ambitions and willingness to challenge the Western led international order. The book not only describes Russia's post-Cold War military operations, but also analyses them to understand how Russia makes war. As such, the book consists of two distinctive but interlinked parts. The first part comprises case studies of the major armed conflicts Russia has been involved in since 1994. The second offers "macro-scale" analyses of various aspects of Russian policies and practices concerning the use of force during the post-Cold War period, including the evolution of Russian military strategies and tactics, their impact on the international legal order, and Russian attitudes towards humanitarian principles and human rights norms during armed conflicts. By focusing not only on battlefield outcomes but also on legality, human suffering, state propaganda and changes in international norms, this volume offers a diverse and comprehensive view of Russian military practices in the post-Cold War period.
This book will be of much interest to students of Russian foreign policy, military studies, law, security studies and International Relations.
Contents
Introduction, Andrzej Szeptycki Part I: Case Studies Chapter 1. The First Chechen War (1994-96): Strategic Miscalculation and the Limits of the Russian Military, Agnieszka Bieńczyk-Missala Chapter 2. The Second Chechen War (1999-2009): Finishing Unfinished Business by Any Means Necessary, Piotr Śledź Chapter 3. Russia-Georgia (2008): Blitzkrieg Russian style, Patrycja Grzebyk Chapter 4. Crimea and Donbas (2014-2022): Russia's First (and Last?) Hybrid War, Andrzej Szeptycki Chapter 5. Syria (2015-2024): Out of area à la russe, Piotr Śledź and Marek Madej Chapter 6. Ukraine (since 2022): From a "three-to-ten-day war" to an eternity?, Marek Madej and Andrzej Szeptycki Part II: Trends Chapter 7. The Contemporary Russian Way of War: Heavy Metal Dies Hard, Marek Madej and Piotr Śledź Chapter 8. The Law as the Sharpest Sword in the Russian Arsenal: The Instrumentalization of International Law in Russia's Wars, Patrycja Grzebyk Chapter 9. The Exploitation of Human Suffering: The Humanitarian Consequences of Russia's Wars, Agnieszka Bieńczyk-Missala Chapter 10. That Worked, Let's Do It Again! War as a Means of National Consolidation in Post-Soviet Russia, Alicja Curanović Chapter 11. Russia's Wars and the Contemporary International Order, Roman Kuźniar Conclusions: On the Efficacy and Efficiency of Russian Military Engagements After the Cold War, Marek Madej
