{"id":12080,"date":"2025-05-29T00:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/?p=12080"},"modified":"2025-05-29T00:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:27:07","slug":"what-the-russian-generals-are-reading-inside-moscows-closed-door-military-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/?p=12080","title":{"rendered":"What the Russian generals are reading: Inside Moscow\u2019s closed-door military thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

What the Russian Military Yearbook 2025 reveals about Moscow\u2019s war plans, defense priorities, and global outlook<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each year, deep inside Russia\u2019s opaque defense establishment, a select group of generals, security officials, and defense industry executives receive a publication not meant for prying\u00a0eyes. The ‘Russian Military Yearbook 2025’ is not a glossy annual or a public defense white paper \u2013 it is a strategic internal digest intended for those who shape and execute Russia\u2019s war plans. Circulated among senior commanders,\u00a0security agencies, and defense-industrial directors, it provides rare insight into the mindset and priorities of a country at war.<\/p>\n

RT\u00a0offers an in-depth review of the Yearbook\u2019s latest edition \u2013 a document meant to inform Russian decision-makers, now brought into analytical focus for an international audience. Whether you\u2019re a defense analyst, a policy strategist, or a close observer of Russia\u2019s evolving military doctrine, this review offers a rare opportunity: a look behind the curtain of the Russian state\u2019s warfighting logic.<\/p>\n

New minister\u2019s vision for a modernized military<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The ‘Russian Military Yearbook 2025’ opens with highlights from Defense Minister Andrey Belousov\u2019s keynote address at the expanded meeting of the Ministry of Defense Collegium, delivered on December 14, 2024. At that point, Belousov had been in office for six months, following his unexpected appointment in May 2024, when longtime defense chief Sergey Shoigu stepped down after a 12-year tenure.<\/p>\n

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A civilian with a background in economic planning and government advisory roles, he brought with him no military credentials \u2013 but a clear mandate to modernize. In his address, Belousov framed his early tenure as a response to mounting wartime challenges, outlining a managerial approach focused on efficiency, innovation, and human capital reform.<\/p>\n

As some analysts had forecast, Belousov emerged as a technocratic reformer \u2013 one focused on importing modern management systems and private-sector technologies into the armed forces. Central to his message was the urgent need to streamline existing military processes and foster a culture of innovation, especially in cooperation with the civilian scientific community.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn this context, the Russian Armed Forces must become more agile and open to innovation, including innovations from the civilian sector.\u201d<\/em>
\u2014 Andrey Belousov, Minister of Defense of Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But Belousov\u2019s ambitions go beyond technology and workflow. He also seeks to overhaul how the military attracts, develops, and retains talent. His agenda includes new educational initiatives designed to incorporate battlefield lessons from Ukraine, as well as efforts to enhance the social prestige of military service \u2013 with improved benefits and professional development opportunities for servicemen and women.<\/p>\n

How the US strategizes against Russia<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The second major contribution in the Yearbook comes from Dr. Alexei Podberezkin, a historian and the director of the Center for Military-Political Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). His article examines longstanding US strategic approaches to Russia, arguing that Washington has consistently favored internal destabilization over direct military confrontation.<\/p>\n

Podberezkin contends that this tactic \u2013 first honed during the Cold War \u2013 has been embraced by successive generations of American policymakers. From their perspective, undermining Russia from within has proven more reliable, less risky, and far more cost-effective than attempting to challenge it head-on in a conventional military conflict.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe current international environment is marked by a sharp escalation of tensions between nearly all its actors. Almost every nation has taken sides in the conflict between the \u2018collective West\u2019 and the emerging centers of power.\u201d<\/em>
\u2014 Alexei Podberezkin, MGIMO<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He traces this strategic preference back to the final decades of the Soviet Union, when information warfare, economic pressure, and financial instruments were increasingly deployed as tools of confrontation. In Podberezkin\u2019s view, these methods not only accelerated the USSR\u2019s internal collapse but also triggered a broader erosion of global institutions. What the West once presented as neutral frameworks for cooperation, he argues, gradually morphed into mechanisms for promoting US dominance \u2013 while norms and structures that limited American power were systematically dismantled.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Podberezkin sees a growing ideological divide within the United States itself \u2013 between advocates of globalization and champions of national sovereignty. He identifies President Donald Trump as a central figure in the latter camp. Yet even a more inward-looking, interest-driven US foreign policy, he argues, would likely pursue the same overarching goal: weakening rival powers like Russia and China by amplifying their internal divisions.<\/p>\n

The CSTO\u2019s expanding security toolkit<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Imangali Tasmagambetov, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), uses his contribution to review the alliance\u2019s efforts in 2024 in an increasingly volatile Eurasian security environment. He emphasizes the need for institutional adaptability and closer coordination with regional partners, especially the CIS and SCO \u2013 a priority reflected in the 2024 International Conference on Eurasian Security held in Minsk.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe organization continues to enhance its effective response tools and successfully addresses the challenges and threats to collective security.\u201d<\/em>
\u2014 Imangali Tasmagambetov, CSTO<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The CSTO carried out seven joint military exercises in 2024, including operations with troops from the Central African Republic, while also accelerating the modernization of its Collective Rapid Reaction Forces.<\/p>\n

Beyond military preparedness, the CSTO has expanded its role in countering transnational threats. Member states finalized agreements to coordinate actions against terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, illegal migration, and cybercrime. Key initiatives include:<\/p>\n