#4
The Russia Journal
October 19-25, 2001
Editorial
A pressing reform

Why, considering the Communist world collapsed more than a decade ago and the country's puny budget, does Russia still operate a radar station in Cuba and a naval base in Vietnam?

It is a good question -- and one that President Vladimir Putin finally asked Wednesday.

In what was apparently a heated meeting between Putin and his top brass, it was agreed that Russia would dismantle its radar station in Lourdes, Cuba, and its naval technical support base in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.

According to Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin, chief of Russia's General Staff, the closure of the Cuba station alone will save around $200 million a year in rent. In any country that is a lot of money, but in Russia it is a small fortune.

What was perhaps more interesting coming out of the meeting was Putin's voicing of concern, possibly even anger, at the slow progress of military reform.

For nearly two years, the president has kowtowed to the top military brass and given it a free hand in Chechnya. From his climb-down in 1999 when Gen. Vladimir Shamanov threatened to tear off his stripes if Putin did not allow him to continue the advance into Chechnya, to his stubborn refusal to apportion blame over the Kursk tragedy, the pattern has been clear. Putin has been wary of pointing the finger at his generals for obvious incompetence, corruption and Cold War-era hysterics.

It is commendable, then, that Putin has finally taken a firm line on some key issues, including bases in close proximity to the United States and a refusal to bow to the hardliners on joining the U.S.-led coalition against global terrorism.

It is easy to understand why Putin has previously dodged confrontation with the top brass -- it is an extremely corrupt and dangerous group – while remaining firm on the need for reform, which is now taking on an air of urgency.

Putin seems to understand very well that Russia's officer corps is rotten to the core; he understands that any overhaul is, by extension, going to involve an attack on the top brass's financial schemes. Such a move by the Kremlin is likely to draw a powerful counterblow, one that could even destabilize Putin's presidency.

However, Putin deserves credit for beginning to address this issue, perhaps the most dangerous and important challenge to Russia's democratic and economic future. In order for Russia to revive its economy, the armed forces and military industrial complex must undergo root and branch reform.

Putin has yet to address the single most important issue of military reform, one that could earn him the support of the Russian population -- the military draft. This should be addressed as a social, military and economic priority. It is estimated that only 14 percent of eligible draftees reach the Army; the remainder buy their way out, find an exemption or simply run away.

And it is not as if Russians are cowards -- in Soviet times the vast majority of eligible men did their service. Yet today, in most cases, it is the very people that did this service, now parents, who want to extricate their sons from the Army.

That, to put it bluntly, is the population's vote of confidence in the armed forces. Putin must force his generals to expedite a move away from the draft toward the creation of a professional, well-paid army.

Putin's decision Wednesday to close the bases in Cuba and Vietnam was a sensible one, but in reality, not a particularly difficult choice. The real test will be whether he can use this move as a springboard for further military reform -- turning words and programs into real deeds.

Carrying out military reform to the end is likely to be the defining moment of Putin's presidency.

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