Any country’s army is a direct product of its socio-economic and political system.
The relationship goes the other way, too: The condition of an army exerts a powerful influence on its country’s political system and society in general.
In this, Russia’s Armed Forces are no exception. They are part and parcel of the current corrupt, quasi-feudal system, which dates back to Soviet times.
That is why every attempt to reform the Army — including the most comprehensive military reforms of 2008-2012 — eventually petered out. The need for an effective fighting force constantly clashed with Russia’s ineffective political and economic model.
The most recent reform ended in a compromise: In an army formally consisting of 1 million troops, only 30,000 or so are capable of meeting today’s military goals.
But even here there’s a contradiction. The authorities regularly bypass officers and soldiers and assign military tasks to so-called “private military companies,” the security strongmen who answer to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and the recently formed National Guard.
This leads us to the question: What type of Armed Forces would a democratic, post-Putin Russia need?
The Army in a Democratic Republic
The shape a country’s Armed Forces takes on is first and foremost defined by the external threats it faces.
In a democratic republic, the army’s main aim is to protect society. A republic will only commit to this or that international obligation on behalf of its own well-being and security. And, in some situations, such obligations might require the use of military force.
The second factor influencing the shape of the Armed Forces is its social role. Most importantly, the army should act as a social boon to everyone who serves in it. If it fails in this function, the Armed Forces not only loses its effectiveness, but it can become a threat to society.
The Reality
The current design of the Russian Armed Forces runs counter to both society’s fundamental interests and its financial means. The army ostensibly has 1 million troops, though publicly available data on the number of conscripts, contract soldiers, officers, military school graduates indicates the number is closer to 700,000-750,000, with another 900,000 civilians working for the Defense Ministry.
In 2017, Russia will spend approximately 3 trillion rubles ($50.5 billion) on its Armed Forces, with 50 to 70 percent of that sum going to maintenance, and the remainder to purchasing weapons.
