The Russian Understanding of War -Blurring the Lines Between War and Peace, reviewed

By review of available here.

This book analyzes the evolution of Russian military thought and how Russia’s current thinking about war is reflected in recent crises. While other books describe current Russian practice, Oscar Jonsson provides the long view to show how Russian military strategic thinking has developed from the Bolshevik Revolution to the present. He closely examines Russian primary sources including security doctrines and the writings and statements of Russian military theorists and political elites. What Jonsson reveals is that Russia’s conception of the very nature of war is now changing, as Russian elites see information warfare and political subversion as the most important ways to conduct contemporary war.

Since information warfare and political subversion are below the traditional threshold of armed violence, this has blurred the boundaries between war and peace. Jonsson also finds that Russian leaders have, particularly since 2011-12, considered themselves to be at war with the United States and its allies, albeit with non-violent means. This book provides much needed context and analysis to be able to understand recent Russian interventions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, how to deter Russia on the eastern borders of NATO, and how the West must also learn to avoid inadvertent escalation.

The Russian Understanding of War Blurring the Lines Between War and Peace, reviewed

The Russians are coming! Both a rabble rousing war cry, and yet also a real, clear and present danger to consider. If you are an occupant of the Baltic republics or the ex Soviet Republics of the Ukraine, Georgia and potentially many other countries too, then you may well have suffered from both conventional and nonconventional war activities launched by your Russian neighbours.

This book is a useful guide to the range and depth of the activities carried out by the Russians against anyone they consider to be of strategic importance. The recent US impeachment saga demonsteration, by numerous US security experts that the idea of the Ukraine intervening in the 2016 US election to be a fiction believed only by a self serving Trump and his cronies. While not all the facts have yet come out in terms of the Russian involvement in the US election it is clear that it was a targetted event that they wished to influence.

This book outlines the long, systematic and considered Russian approach to non-military options to achieving their goals around the world. It is well worth reading to gain a deeper undestanding of the range and image of these activities. The tone is a little academic at times, but it is an important and relevant book for 2020 and beyond.

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