RSI Connect: Russian Command & Control, Part 2
RSI Connect: Russian Command & Control, Session 2
Date: March 9th at 17:00 CET / 11:00 EDT Platform: Cisco Webex Events
Link to Video Recording
Details
RSI will host a two-part Project Connect series that will offer a comprehensive look at various aspects of Russian command and control practices in national security affairs.
The panelists will examine Russian C2 on various levels of command (i.e., from grand strategy to military operations); will discuss its soft aspects (i.e., combat management culture, procedures, and personnel policies); and hard dimensions (i.e., C2 organization on different echelons, technologies, and systems supporting them).
The speakers will analyze the performance of Russian C2 towards, during, and following the war in Ukraine. Participants will reflect on how change and continuity in all of the above aspects condition current and prospective Russian art of statecraft, strategy, and operations in conventional and nuclear realms. Speakers will critically assess tensions, contradictions, strengths, and weaknesses of Russian C2.
Biographies
Dara Massicot
Title: Senior Policy Researcher Affiliation: RAND Corporation
Dara Massicot is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Dara previously served as a senior analyst for Russian military strategy and capabilities at the Department of Defense. Her work at RAND focuses on security issues in Russia like military modernization, conflict studies, grand strategy, and U.S. force posture and plans. Her areas of interest include high-intensity conventional warfare and escalation dynamics.
Michael Kofman
Title: Research Program Director, Russia Studies Program, CNA Affiliation: Fellow, Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center
Michael Kofman serves as Research Program Director in the Russia Studies Program at CNA and as a Fellow at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, DC. His research focuses on Russia and the former Soviet Union, specializing in Russian armed forces, military thought, capabilities, and strategy. Previously, he served as a Program Manager and subject matter expert at National Defense University, advising senior military and government officials on issues in Russia and Eurasia.
Mr. Kofman is also a Senior Editor at War on the Rocks, where he regularly authors articles on strategy, the Russian military, Russian decision-making, and related foreign policy issues. He runs a personal blog on the Russian armed forces at Russian Military Analysis.
Mr. Kofman has published numerous articles on the Russian armed forces, security issues in Russia/Eurasia, and analyses for the US government. He holds an MA in International Security from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Moderator: Dima Adamsky
Title: Professor, School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy Affiliation: Reichman University, Israel
Dmitry (Dima) Adamsky is a Professor at the School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Reichman University, Israel. His research interests include international security, cultural approach to IR, and American, Russian, and Israeli national security policies. His books Operation Kavkaz and The Culture of Military Innovation (Stanford UP) earned the annual (2006 and 2012) prizes for the best academic works on Israeli security. His last book Russian Nuclear Orthodoxy (Stanford UP) won the 2020 ISA best book award in the category of Religion and IR. His forthcoming books deal with cultural sources of the Russian art of coercion and with the role of political officers in the Russian military and society.