The Russian General Staff

This unique study sheds light on the General Staff, the most important military institution in Putin's RussiaRussia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 shed light on the importance of understanding the Russian military, but also revealed how understudied and misunderstood it is. In The Russian General Staff, Oscar Jonsson analyzes and explains the role of the Russian General Staff—the brain of the Russian military. By understanding the functioning of the military's leadership and its relation to policy, the reasons for Russia's poor performance in the war become clear. The Russian General Staff provides an anatomy of this institution and its three core functions: developing military theory, commanding the Armed Forces, and itself playing the role of a political actor. Jonsson's analysis is rooted in over a dozen years of research, fieldwork, and interviews on the Russian military. Moreover, he provides an empirical investigation into all recent Russian wars, from the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979 to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Getting a better grasp of the Russian military's machinery is critical for both scholars and practitioners to better explain and manage the threats other nations face from Russia. This book is pertinent for all defense universities and courses in Russian area studies and security studies, which will benefit from its unique contribution to Russian military studies.