RSI Connect: Russia and the Middle East
Date: October 20th, 2021 at 15:00 CET / 09:00 EDT Platform: Cisco Webex Events
Link to Video Recording
Link to Report
Overview
RSI partnered with Michael Kofman and the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) to discuss their recently released RSI-sponsored research on the core tenets of Russian military strategy and associated operational concepts.
Russian military leaders describe the prevailing strategy as active defense, a strategic concept integrating preemptive measures to anticipate and prevent conflict. The strategy emphasizes denying an opponent decisive victory in the initial period of war, degrading and disorganizing their effort, while setting conditions to attain war termination on acceptable terms.
Key elements of the strategy include:
- Integration of defensive and offensive operations
- Maneuver defense and sustained counterattack
- Disorganization of an opponent's command and control
- Engagement of forces throughout the theater of military action, including infrastructure in their homeland
The theory of victory focuses on degrading the military-economic potential of opponents, targeting critically important objects to affect their ability and will to sustain a fight, rather than ground offensives to seize territory or key terrain.
Agenda
- Presentation by Michael Kofman
- Moderated Discussion
- Question & Answer Session
Biographies
Michael Kofman
Title: Research Program Director Affiliation: Russia Studies Program, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA)
Michael Kofman specializes in Russian armed forces, military thought, capabilities, and strategy. He is a Senior Editor at War on the Rocks and runs a blog on Russian armed forces at Russian Military Analysis. He holds an MA in International Security from Georgetown University.