One of the most important aspects of the thoroughgoing modernization of the Russian armed forces is that the government elite fully supports the actions of the Defense Ministry for the first time in post-Soviet history.
Speaking at the meeting of the Defense and Security section of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Wednesday, Director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) Ruslan Pukhov said that one of the most important aspects of the thoroughgoing modernization of the Russian armed forces is that the government elite fully supports the actions of the Defense Ministry for the first time in post-Soviet history.
The meeting was organized by RIA Novosti in association with the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (CFDP) and CAST.
“The active participation of the country’s leadership is very conducive to carrying out military reforms. I’d like to recall that even when oil prices fell during the crisis, we saw that the government was firmly determined to complete its undertakings,” Pukhov said.
In turn, Director of the Institute for Political and Military Analysis (IPMA) Alexander Sharavin noted that “the main task to be accomplished in reforming the Russian armed forces is to change its very essence rather than its image […] Therefore, the term ‘reform’ is inappropriate. It is no accident that neither the commander-in-chief nor the defense minister speak about ‘reform.’”
CAST Deputy Director Konstantin Makiyenko noted that “the main risk underlying the program of military rearmament and the whole process of modernization lies in macroeconomic uncertainty because the Russian economy largely depends upon hydrocarbons.”
Wednesday marked the first meeting of the discussion section. Experts from ten countries, including Russia, the United States, Britain, France, Belarus, Norway, Turkey, Germany, Poland, and Japan were in attendance.
The Valdai Discussion Club was established in 2004 by RIA Novosti, the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, The Moscow News, Russia in Global Affairs, and Russia Profile. The club is named after the location of its first meeting.
The club was designed to develop and sustain a dialogue between Russian and foreign scientists, politicians, and journalists, and to promote the analysis of political, economic, and social issues affecting both Russia and the world.
Valdai Club conferences, held both in Russia and abroad, have attracted dozens of leading political scientists from all over the world. Over the club’s eight years of existence, more than 400 scientists and scholars from 35 countries have contributed to its work.
