National Observer Home > No. 46 - Spring 2000 > Book Reviews

Red Star East : The Armed Forces of Russia in Asia

by Greg Austin and Alexei D. Muraviev  

Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2000, pp.388 and index.

Dr. Austin is an expert in Russian and Chinese military affairs, and Mr. Muraviev is a graduate of Moscow State University who is currently researching the role of naval power in Russia's foreign policy in Asia and the Pacific, at Curtin University.

"Red Star East" is more comprehensive than its title suggests. The authors set out at length many of the events that led up to and followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. They describe the grave economic difficulties that have beset the diminished state of Russia's

defences today. Technological developments have increased the cost of modern defence systems to such an extent that they are unable to be afforded by any country other then the United States. Indeed, even for the United States the cost is difficult to bear.

The authors note that between 1991 and 1997 there was a massive reduction in the scale of defence spending, by a factor of eight in real prices. There was an equally massive shift in the composition of spending, from a three-quarter share going to equipment procuration to a three-quarter share going to personnel costs. From four million troops at the height of the Cold War, Russia's total now barely exceeds one million. Russia's nuclear forces (recently including 5972 nuclear warheads) have hence become of critical importance, especially in view of Russia's commencing to destroy its stocks of chemical weapons (which recently totalled 40,000 tonnes), the reduction in its naval forces (the Pacific Fleet had been reduced from 41 to 18 ships by 1998, and the combat potential of the entire Russian Navy may now be as low as one-twentieth of that of the U.S. Navy) and the reduction in output of military equipment to perhaps one-ninth of previous levels.

Nonetheless Russia's eastern forces - those to the east of the Urals and particularly those in far eastern areas near Japan - are of critical importance in terms of the Pacific Ocean and Asia in particular. They provide a counter-balance to Chinese military forces and are more powerful than the armed forces of other Asian countries, particularly in terms of air power and nuclear weapons. As the authors note, "Russia's air power east of the Urals remains among the most potent in the region and a formidible force to be reckoned with".

It is clear that one of the reasons for Russia's maintenance of a powerful eastern presence is concern at the unpredictability of Chinese policies. Despite attempts by optimistic commentators to sanitise China's reputation, China remains the most repressive and aggressive of all the larger powers, and it is to China that one must look for the greatest threats to international peace.

"Red Star East" has been carefully researched and is impressively documented. There are fifty-five pages of notes and an extensive bibliography. The authors are to be commended for an outstanding work which is of importance for those who are interested in defence and foreign policy issues.

R.M. Pearce

 

National Observer No. 46 - Spring 2000