ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a general overview of the institution insofar as it relates to Russia's international position and foreign policy direction. In its present condition, the Russian military is certainly a long way from the zenith of power and prestige at home and abroad that the Soviet military achieved in the early 1980s. The state of Russian nuclear forces and their future prospects have been the subject of particular scrutiny and controversy ever since the publication of a contentious Foreign Affairs article in 2006. Foreign Affairs article argued that the poor condition of Russian forces and contrasting US advances meant that the US was or would soon be in a position to be able to carry out a counterforce strike against Russia with impunity. Military reform, identified by Vladimir Putin at the outset of his presidency as a matter of national priority, has been the subject of much controversy within Russia and among foreign observers for some time.
