ABSTRACT
The Soviet armed forces function as an integrative mechanism through which the social consciousness of individuals and groups of diverse ethnic origins will be elevated and molded to create a "new Soviet man." Based on Soviet military's own service experiences and on what they know of their friends' experiences, the respondents dealt with the issue of interethnic relations in the Soviet armed forces in considerable detail. The kind of national stereotypes that one encounters in the Soviet population are found in servicemen from different ethnic backgrounds in the military, where in many instances the stereotypes are strengthened. Racism in the Soviet armed forces appears to be prevalent and unchecked to an extent unknown in the US forces. Open ethnic conflict by and against individuals and groups apparently occurs frequently in the Soviet armed forces, but it would be premature to generalize that the Soviet armed forces experience more or less violent ethnic-based conflict than other large-scale multinational armies.
