Rene De La Pedraja, PhD, University of Chicago, has researched and written numerous publications. He is a professor of history at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Part I: The Downward Spiral

[...] Soviet Union: Mounting Tensions

delete deleteStrategic Encirclement: NATO, China and Japan

delete deleteThe Armed Forces in the Post-Stalin Soviet Union

delete deleteThe Soviet Army and Nationalities

delete deleteThe KGB and the Survival of the Soviet Union

[...] War in Afghanistan, 1979-1989

delete deleteThe Origins of the Soviet Invastion of Afghanistan

delete deleteThe Main Stages in the War, 1979-1989

delete deleteThe Soviet-Afghan War in World History

[...] ­Self-Destruction of the Soviet Union

delete deleteMikhail Gorbachev and the Economic Collapse

delete deleteA Foreign Policy for Military Reductions

delete deleteThe Revolt of the Nationalities

delete deleteThe August 1991 Coup Attempt

delete deleteThe Decisive Days of 19-21 August 1991

delete deleteFrom the Coup Attempt to Russia

[...] Birth of the Russian Federation

delete deleteFrom Soviet to Russian Armed Forces

delete deleteA New Structure for the Russian Armed Forces

delete deleteParliament Versus the President

delete deleteThe Russian Army in Shambles

5.Trouble in the "Near Abroad"

delete deleteWar in Transnistria

delete deleteUkraine and the Soviet Military

delete deleteGeorgia: War and Turmoil

[...] First Chechnya War

delete deleteChechens in the Soviet Union

delete deleteChechnya and the Russian Federation

delete deleteThe Invasion of Chechnya

delete deleteThe Insurgency

7.Russia in Decline

delete deleteThe Presidential Campaign and the First Chechnya War

delete deleteThe Reorganization of the Military

delete deleteThe Fading Yeltsin Presidency

Part II: Halting the Decline

8.Saving Russia: The Second Chechnya War

delete deleteFrom Failed State to War

delete deleteThe Russian Invasion and the Battle of Grozny

delete deleteThe Insurgency

delete deleteThe Russian Counterinsurgency

delete deleteThe Turning Point: The Rebel Offensive of 2004

delete deleteThe End of the Insurgency

[...] Revival of Russian Institutions

delete deleteA String of Successes on the Civilian Front

delete deleteProgress and Setbacks on the Military Front

[...] Turning Point: The Five Day War with Georgia

delete deleteGrowing Disputes

delete deleteThe Path to War

delete delete"A Splendid Little War"

delete deleteThe Aftermath

Part III: Reconstruction

[...] New Look

delete deleteStructural Changes for the Military

delete deleteCrisis in Recruitment

delete deleteThe Revolt of the Officers

[...]

delete deleteThe Alliance with China

delete deleteCentral Asia: The Great Game of Empire

delete deleteThe Far East: Vostok-2010

13.Russia, Ukraine and Crimea

delete deleteUkraine: The Making of a Failed State

delete deleteConfrontation in Crimea

delete deleteThe End of Ukrainian Crimea

14.Turmoil and War in Ukraine

delete deleteThe Defense of Crimea

delete deleteThe Revolt of Eastern Ukraine

delete deleteThe Ukrainian Military Offensive

delete deleteVictory

delete deleteStalemate

[...] Russian Expedition to Syria

delete deleteRussia and Syria 2000-2010

delete deleteThe Syrian Civil War

delete deleteThe Russian Intervention

[...] Russian Military for the ­Twenty-First Century

delete deleteWeapons and the Defense Industry

delete deletePersonnel: Quality and Quantity

Chapter Notes

Annotated Bibliography

Index