ABSTRACT
The state of civil-military relations is a highly reliable barometer of the nature of the government and its overall relation to its people. Recent scholarship on Russian civil-military relations explicitly confirms this point. Studying the civil-military relationship makes clear current modes of power, the sharing of responsibility in security matters, and in certain cases the will to act. The reform of the armed forces is closely connected, through the broader issues of civil-military relations, to the general state of Russia's democratization. The politics of defense reform is at the core of Russia's democratization given the crucial role the military establishment has played throughout Russian history. The author also invoked the specter that enraged former Army officers and soldiers who are now being demobilized because of the reforms might also take to the streets with their weapons. Thus pervasive corruption, criminality, and brutality have become major causes of Russia's inability to deal effectively with the mounting threats in the North Caucasus.
