Citation:

Abstract:

Russia’s intervention in the Georgian–South Ossetian conflict has
highlighted the need to rigorously examine trends in the public debate
over the use of force in Russia. Approaching this debate through the prism of
civil–military relations, we take advantage of recent methodological
advances in automated content analysis and generate a new dataset of 8000
public statements made by Russia’s political and military leaders during the
Putin period. The data show little evidence that military elites exert
a restraining influence on Russian foreign and defence policy. Although more
hesitant than their political counterparts to embrace an interventionist foreign
policy agenda, Russian military elites are considerably more activist in
considering the use of force as an instrument of foreign policy.