Modernized Geopolitical Aspects of Russia’s Military Strategies: Two “Chechen” Military Campaigns and Georgia’s Defense Policy in the 21st Century

Military Doctrines of countries like Russia is of high importance for any country, and are of even higher relevance for Russia’s neighbouring states. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s military doctrines have undergone serious modifications. If before the main emphasis was placed on the threats stemming from global warfare, military doctrines of post-Soviet Russia have switched their attention to the potential inner conflicts, which may have been inspired by religious or ethnic differences among its population.
First and second military campaigns in Chechnya had an important impact on military doctrines developed in the 1990s. Those strategic documents which were developed in the beginning of 2000s aimed to meet those challenges and problems, which were evident in the first Chechen war. As for the relatively more modern Russian military doctrines, apart from stressing the importance of maintaining strong military forces, the main emphasis there is on more asymmetric measures of warfare, which envision the use of such tactics in parallel to (often covert) military actions for achieving political goals of the war, as information warfare, economic or humanitarian measures.
This research will also attempt to demonstrate what kind of challenges have transformed and modernized Russian military doctrines posed to the security environment of Georgia since obtaining independence in 1991.