The Controversy Over Western Measures of Soviet Defense Expenditures

A retired CIA analyst of the Soviet economy presents a comprehensive and in-depth comparison of diverse Western estimates of the size and rate of growth of Soviet military expenditures from the mid-1950s through 1990. Analyzing the explicit criteria and implicit assumptions that underlay the compilation of these estimates, the author evaluates the relative veracity of divergent claims. The article then examines alternative claims about the impact of Gorbachev and giasnost' on our understanding of Soviet defense expenditures, and explores the extent to which Soviet leaders themselves knew how much they were spending in this area. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P27, P24, P52.     

Military Cuts and Conversion in the Defense Industry

The partial reorientation of the Soviet defense industry toward civilian production is examined by a prominent Western specialist in the context of the overall reduction in military spending. Provisions of the current program for conversion in the defense complex are analyzed with due consideration of anticipated effects on the economy at large. The author discusses the expected mix between civilian and military production within the defense industry, and notes the range and number of enterprises affected. Also outlined are the implications of the conversion program for military R&D and for the size and compensation of the workforce in the defense complex, journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P20, H56.     

The Soviet Military–Industrial Complex and Economic Reform

The Soviet military and civilian economies are so closely integrated that economic reform cannot be treated as a purely civilian issue. Faltering economic growth coming at the same time as new challenges in the arms race has therefore focused the military's attention on how to improve the performance of the civilian economy. The Soviet military press has begun to portray current reform initiatives in a positive light, and the military economy has even been the model for some of these initiatives. Nonetheless, the military has not publicly supported any reforms involving marketization or private enterprise. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 114, 124.     

Gorbachev's Social Contract

The Soviet economic slowdown is explained in the context of an eroding “social contract” between regime and society, established in the 1950s and defined as a set of norms, constituency benefits, and political-economic institutions which elite and public have regarded as legitimate means of regulating their mutual relations. Gorbachev must rebuild state legitimacy; the “objective,” mutually constraining relationship between economic system and state legitimation implies that a new social contract can serve as a “test” of Gorbachev's intent to pursue “radical” economic reform. Evidence suggests that prospects for radical reform have risen substantially since Gorbachev's election as General Secretary. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 830.     

Economic and Strategic Position Of the Soviet Far East

The role of the Soviet Far East in the Soviet regional system is conditioned by its remoteness from the country's commanding center, its harsh physical environment, and strategic importance. The region is weakly integrated into the mainstream of the Soviet economy. At the same time, its most powerful economic links are with the distant metropolis—a strongly dependent, parasitic relationship made more dominant by the cost of the massive military build-up. Huge Soviet efforts to accelerate the growth of the Far East are proving largely unsuccessful, despite the construction of the BAM. Economic priorities are shifting to West Siberia, while Far Eastern resource projects are proving increasingly unattractive to Japan. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 731.     

The Quality of Gorbachev's Leadership

A prominent political scientist, identified with views expressing reservations about the success of Gorbachev's policies, briefly evaluates the quality of his leadership. The paper's focus is a response to a different assessment of that leadership by George W. Breslauer, published in an earlier issue of Soviet Economy. The author argues that during 1990 Gorbachev has lost most of the support he once enjoyed within both the Soviet populace and the Soviet political elite. He presents evidence that, during fall 1990, a right-wing coalition opposed to Gorbachev's policies was asserting itself. The essay covers developments through the end of November 1990. journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 124, 822.     

Nasser's Dilemma: Egypt's Relations with the United States and Israel, 1967–69

The article examines the American political efforts to bring about an agreement between Israel and Egypt between 1967 and 1969 and analyses the reasons for their failure. But it does not focus exclusively on the Americans; it also outlines the alternatives for Egyptian action during the period in question and looks at the political and military steps taken by Egypt's president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, vis-à-vis Israel and the United States. The main conclusion is that despite Egypt's dependence on the Soviet Union for economic aid and the rebuilding of the decimated Egyptian army, Nasser knew that the only route to a political process to regain Sinai ran through the United States. His diplomatic efforts were all derived from this insight. At the same time, the Egyptian president's attempts to exploit American pressure to his benefit, as he had done in 1957, was undercut by his overestimation of his bargaining chips, a mistake that was one factor in the collapse of the efforts to reach a diplomatic agreement in the region.     

Soviet Assessments of Economic Reforms in Other Socialist Countries

A prominent American economist pieces together and analyzes Soviet assessments of economic reforms in other socialist countries. Included in the author's analysis are studies of Soviet specialists investigating changes in the administrative organization of the state sector, planning, pricing, banking, labor, agriculture, nonstate activity, and foreign economic relations, within the framework of a socialist planned economy. Also covered are more recent Soviet studies focusing on privatization, marketization, and government regulation in the transition to a capitalist market economy—work that influenced decisions about economic reforms in the Soviet Union. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P21, B20.     

Coming to terms with neopatrimonialism: Soviet and American nation-building projects in Afghanistan

The author examines how patrimonial forms of domination, as conceived in a Weberian sense, came to pervade the formal bureaucratic apparatuses developed under both Soviet Marxist–Leninist (from the late 1970s) and American-coalition liberal designs (since 2001), creating hybrid states defined by neopatrimonialism. Drawing lessons from the survival and eventual collapse of the Najibullah regime following the 1989 withdrawal of Soviet forces, the article finds that the continued extension of aid and arms, and not the presence of foreign military forces, proved most effectual in sustaining the Afghan leader's patronage-based grip on power. Arguing that the contemporary regime of Hamid Karzai has likewise adopted a neopatrimonial-type rule, these findings have clear implications for current American policy in Afghanistan. America, Afghanistan's ultimate patron, can better ensure stability in the region by extending aid to Karzai than by continuing a large and costly military occupation of the region.     

SIDESTEPPING A QUAGMIRE: RUSSIA,SYRIA, AND THE LESSONS OF THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR

Russia's military intervention in Syria (2015-present) has ensured the Assad regime's survival to date. Why though has Russia succeeded in achieving its objective? This article provides an analysis of Russia's involvement in the Syrian civil war in comparison to the Soviet Union's military debacle in Afghanistan (1979-89). Accordingly, by avoiding the USSR's mistakes in Afghanistan, this article posits that Russia has not become entangled in a protracted conflict in Syria. In Syria, Russia has militarily intervened to buttress the Assad regime, not to reorganize the host government's leadership and assume control over the war effort. Meanwhile, Syrian opposition forces lack concerted international support and Russia has allies that are assisting the embattled Syrian government. Lastly, Russia intends to ‘freeze’ the Syrian civil war in place by (i) pressuring opposition forces to submit and other countries to re-embrace Damascus in a diplomatic forum, (ii) endorsing Syria's claim to sovereignty, and (iii) relying upon a small military presence to deter others from destabilizing Assad's rule.     

One Year After the Collapse of the USSR: A Panel of Specialists

Six senior American specialists in Soviet, Ukrainian, and Russian affairs reflect on economic and political developments in light of apocalyptic expectations articulated in the West after the collapse of the USSR. Presentations, formulated in November 1992, focus on the lot of the consumer during the winter, a survey of direct foreign investments, the leadership of Yel'tsin, military and security considerations, and Russian-Ukrainian relations. Coverage of economic issues also includes discussion of food shortages, pervasive corruption, and Russian nationalist views of pro- or anti-market orientations. A concluding afterword embraces the December Congress of People's Deputies and Gaydar's departure. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D19, F21, K42, P26.     

The first map of modern Egypt Mohammed Ali's firman and the map of 1841

Afganistan, Part I (Moscow, All‐Russian Scholarly Association for Orientalism, 1923; 205 pp.)

D. Anuchina and others; I. M. Ryeysnyer,

Afganistan (Moscow, The Communist Academy Press; 267 pp.)

V. A. Gurko‐Kryadzhin, Sovryemyenniy Afganistan, Contemporary Afghanistan (Moscow, Museum of Eastern Cultures, 1929; 15 pp.)

Yevgyeniy Shuan, Dzhang. Vosstaniye v Afganistanye, Dzhang: Revolt in Afghanistan (Leningrad, Priboy, 1930; 248 pp.)

V. M. Masson and V. A. Romodin, Istoriya Afganistana, History of Afghanistan, 2 vols. (Moscow, Nauka Press, 1964–5).

M. A. Babakhdzhayev, is entitled Bor'ba Afganistana za nyezavisimost’ (1838–1842), Afghanistan's War for Independence, 1838–42 (Moscow, Oriental Literature Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1960; 107 pp.).

N. Khalfin's Proval Brhanskoy agressii v Afganistanye (19 v. — nachalo 20 v.), The Downfall of British Aggression in Afghanistan, 19th‐Early 20^th Centuries (Moscow, Socio‐economic Literature Press, 1959; 211 pp.).

M. G. Pikulin, entitled Ochyerki po novoy istorii Afganistana, Essays about Afghanistan's Modern History (Tashkent, Fan Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, 1966; 143 pp.).

R. T. Akhramovich's Outline History of Afghanistan After the Second World War (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1966; 192 pp.)

Afganistan v 1961–1966 gg, Afghanistan in the Years 1961–66 (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1967; 172 pp.).

E. Nukhovich's Vnyeshnaya politika Afganistana, The Foreign Policy of Afghanistan (Moscow, Institute of International Relations Press, 1962; 108 pp.).

A. Kh. Babakhodzhayev's Ochyerki po istorii Sovyetsko‐Afganskikh otnoshyeniy, Essays about the History of Soviet‐Afghan Relations (Tashkent, Fan Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, 1970; 92 pp.).

L. B. Tyeplinskiy's 50 lyet Sovyetsko‐Afganskikh otnoshyeniy, Fifty Years of Soviet‐Afghan Relations (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studie of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1971, 238 pp.).

Sovyetsko‐Afganskiye otnoshyeniya 1919–1960, Soviet‐Afghan Relations, 1919–1960 (Moscow, Socio‐Economic Literature Press, 1961, 215 pp.).

N. M. Guryevich, Ochyerki istorii torgovogo kapitala v Afganistanye, Essays on the History of Trade Capital in Afghanistan (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1967; 143 pp.).

Pikulin's Razvitiye naisional'noy ekonomiki i kulturi Afghanistana 1955–1960, Development of the National Economy and Culture of Afghanistan, 1955–60 (Tashkent, The Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences Press, 1961; 152 pp.)

Voprosi ekonomiki Afganistana, Problems of Afghanistan's Economics (Moscow, Oriental Literature Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1963; 248 pp.)

A. A. Polyak, Ekonomichyeskiy stroy Afganistana (ochyerki), The Economic System of Afghanistan: Essays (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1964; 164 pp.)

N.I. Chyernyakhovskaya, Razvitiye promishlyennosti I polodzhyeniye rabochyego klassa Afganistana, Development of Industry and Working Class Conditions in Afghanistan (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1965; 171 pp.).

Guryevich, Ochyerki istorii torgovogo kapitala v Afganistanye, Essays on the History of Trade Capital in Afghanistan (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1967; 143 pp.).

Yu. M. Golovin's Afganistan, ekonomika i vnyeshnyaya torgovlya, Afghanistan: Economics and Foreign Commerce (Moscow, Foreign Commerce Press, 1962; 168 pp.).

V. A. Pulyarkin's Afganistan, ekonomichyeskaya gyeografiya, Afghanistan: Economic Geography (Moscow, Misl’ Press, 1964; 256 pp.).

Ryeysnyer, Razvitiye fyeodalizma i obrazovanye gosudarstva u Afgantsyev, The Development of Feudalism and Formation of Government by the Afghans (Moscow, The Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences Press, 1954; 416 pp.)

A. Davidov and the above N. Chyernyakhovskaya entitled Afganistan (Moscow, Misl’ Press, 1973; 168 pp.).

Agrarniy stroy Afganistana (osnovniye etapi razvitiya), The Agrarian System of Afghanistan: Basic Stages of Development (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1967; 183 pp.).

Afganskaya dyeryevnya (syel'skaya obshchina i rassloyeniye kryest'yanstva), The Afghan Village: Rural Society and the Stratification of the Peasantry (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1969; 263 pp.).

M. G. Pikulin, A. Sh. Shamansurova and R. T. Rashidov, is Ryemyeslo i myelkaya promishlyennost’ Afganistana, Artisanship and Small Industry of Afghanistan (Tashkent, Fan Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, 1976; 116 pp.).

M. A. Babakhodzhayev. The first is Ochyerki sotsial'no‐ekonomichyeskoy i politichyeskoy istorii Afganistana (konyets 19 v.), Essays About the Socio‐Economic and Political History of Afghanistan: The End of the 19th Century (Tashkent, Fan Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, 1975; 196 pp.).

Afganistan (voprosi istorii, ekonomiki i ftlologii), Afghanistan: Problems of History, Economics and Philology (Tashkent, Fan Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, 1978; 124 pp.).

T. I. Kukhtina's Prosvyeshchyeniye v nyezavisimom Afganistanye, Education in Independent Afghanistan (Moscow, Oriental Literature Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia in the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1960; 140 pp.)

V. A. Yefimov's Yazik Afganskikh Khazara. Yakaulangskiy dialekt, The Language of the Afghan Kazars: The Yakaulanian Dialect (Moscow, Nauka Press, 1965; 99 pp.).

Afganskaya klassichyeskaya poeziya. Classical Afghan Poetry, translated from Pushtu by A. Gyerasimova, K. Lyebyedyev and L. Yatsyevich (Moscow, Artistic Literature Press, 1975; 224 pp.)

Afganskiye skazki, Afghan Tales, translated by the same K. Lyebyedyev (Moscow, Government Press for Artistic Literature, 1955; 160 pp.).

Skazki i stikhi Afganistana, Tales and Verses of Afghanistan (Moscow, Artistic Literature Press, 1958; 312 pp.).

Afganiskiye narodniye poslovitsi i pogovorki, Afghan Popular Proverbs and Sayings, translated from Pushtu by the above Lyebyedyev and Yatsyevich (Moscow, Foreign Literature Press, 1961; 67 pp.).

Afganskiye Skazki i lyegyendi, Afghan Tale and Legends, translated from Pushtu by various hands (Moscow, Nauka Press, 1972; 280 pp.).

G. P. Yedzhov's Nash sosyed Afganistan, Our Neighbour, Afghanistan (Znaniye Press, 1965; 32 pp.).

Afganistan (spravochnik), Afghanistan: A Reference Work (Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of the Peoples of Asia of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1964; 276 pp.).

Sovryemyenniy Afganistan, Contemporary Afghanistan (Moscow, The Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1960; 504 pp., maps).

Afghanistan: Past and Present (Moscow, Social Sciences Today Press for the Soviet Union's Academy of Sciences, 1981; 272 pp.)     

Indian Defense Policy at a Crossroads

In November 2008, the financial capital of India, Mumbai, was struck by terrorists who the Indian (as well as the American and the British) intelligence later confirmed had received extensive training from the Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, or Army of the Pure. Given the sophistication of planning and execution involved, it soon became apparent that this was a commando-style operation that possibly had the involvement of a state actor. As physical evidence mounted in terms of satellite phone calls, equipments, and boats used for the attack, Pakistan's hand was seen as smeared all over the operation. Though India conceded that probably the new civilian administration of Asif Ali Zardari was not behind the attacks, the army and the ISI were seen as the main culprit (Chengappa 2008).

The public outcry after the Mumbai attacks was strong enough for the Indian government to consider using the military option vis-à-vis Pakistan. But it soon turned out that India no longer had the capability of imposing quick and effective retribution on Pakistan and that it no longer enjoyed the kind of conventional superiority vis-à-vis its regional adversary that it had enjoyed for the past five decades (Gupta 2009). This was a surprising conclusion for a nation that the international community regarded as a major global economic and military power, pursuing a defense modernization programme geared towards making arms purchases of more than US$35 billion over the next few years. Yet in many ways, it underlined fundamental weaknesses in Indian defense policy, especially its ad hoc attempts towards arms procurement and defense modernization. This article examines the trends in defense spending and arms procurement in India since the early 1990s, a period that has seen India rising in the global inter-state hierarchy. It argues that a lack of strategic orientation in Indian defense planning will make it difficult for India to effectively use its resources and this will circumscribe India's rise as a global military power. First an overview of trends in Indian defense spending is presented followed by a discussion of the drivers of the Indian defense modernization program. Subsequently, India's ties with its major defense partners—Russia, Israel, and the West—are examined. Finally, the constraints that will continue to constrain India's ability to emerge as a major global military power are examined.     

In Defense of Sovietology

A leading specialist on the Soviet economy presents a detailed overview and evaluation of the history of Western studies of the Soviet economy. Foci of the article include: debates about the nature of the Soviet economic system; the uses of qualitative and quantitative evidence; controversies over rates of economic growth and growth of productivity, comparative size of the economy and the burden of defense expenditures; analyses of the severity of economic problems and their implications for the future viability of the system. The article concludes with an evaluation of the accomplishments and shortcomings of economic Sovietology. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: P27, P24, P52.     

俄罗斯国防工业体转型路径及效用分析

俄罗斯国防工业体从前苏联时期的斯大林模式向市场导向的转型,经历了漫长而艰辛的历程.尤其是20世纪90年代的军转民实践,充满了曲折和困难,短期内削弱了其经济实力.但俄罗斯也逐渐明确了国防工业体进一步转型的方向,为推动其经济结构的进一步调整以及经济的持续发展奠定了基础.本文着重从理论上分析俄罗斯国防工业体转型的路径,并深入探讨其对经济发展的巨大影响.     

The Implications of Taiwan's Declining Defense

Taiwan's declining defense capability has increasingly tilted the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait towards China. While the current status quo suits Taiwan's domestic political realities and postpones the Taiwan question to the future, its declining defense capabilities vis-à-vis China hold important implications for Taiwan. They include the reduction of its political bargaining power with China, the undermining of stability in the Taiwan Strait as China increasingly has a viable military option, and ultimately decreases the probability that the status quo can be maintained. Left unattended, Taiwan's declining defense capabilities narrow Taiwan's options and could lead to unpalatable outcomes, including sudden crisis and conflict, and the ultimate resolution of the Taiwan problem on China's terms.     

IMPERIAL DESIGNS

For a very short period after the attacks on 9/11, as the United States bombarded Taliban positions and the alleged training camps of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization, Afghanistan was center stage. Then, as the mundane mopping up, the political haggling, and the international community's efforts to manage the postwar mess took over, the spotlight turned to Iraq. Yet even while Afghan landscapes, politics, and economic and social practices were the focus of the world's attention, the country's history and its place in Central Asia and in the wider realm of Asian and global geopolitics were little covered by the media. This essay outlines how Afghanistan has figured in the imperial designs of regional and international powers for more than two thousand years. From the Mongol invasions of the “civilized” world in the thirteenth century to the U.S. intervention just after the turn of the second millennium CE., the “deep” political history of Afghanistan is described with a view to “locating” the country in a wider political-economic context. Afghanistan's relationship to the great regional empires of Persia, India, and China in the late medieval and early modern periods is discussed, as is its role in “the Great Game” of imperial politics between Russia and British India during the nineteenth century. The regional impact of the Russian Revolution and of efforts to consolidate the USSR are described, as is the rising nationalism and Islamism of the peoples of the region during the final years of the Soviet Union. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the longer term implications of U.S. support for the mujahiddin – support that ironically contributed to the movement that gave rise to al-Qaida -- are analyzed as the final episodes before 9/11 and the recent dramatic U.S. military and political intervention.     

More Soviet works on Iran

Richard Frye's The Heritage of Persia, translated as Naslyediye Irana, Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences’ History Section, 1972,468 pp.

Nicolas de Khanikoff's Mémoire sur la partie meridionale de I'Asie Centrale (originally published in Paris in 1862), translated as Ekspyeditisya v Khorasan, Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1973, 216 pp.

Sadeq Chubak, translated from the Persian as hbrannoye (Selections), Moscow, Khudodzhyestvynennaya Lityeratura Press, 1972,224 pp.

Lityeratura narodov Vostoka (The literature of the Peoples of the East), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1970, 190 pp.

Dzh. Dorri, Pyersidskaya satirichyeskaya proza: traditsiya i novatorstvo (Satirical Persian Prose: Tradition and Innovation), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1977, 216 pp.

Iranskoye Yazikoznaniye: Istoriya, etimologiya, tipologiya (Iranian Linguistics: History, Etymology, Typology), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Linguistics of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1976, 224 pp.

M. D. Milanyan's Gosudarstvyenniy stroy sovryemyennogo Irana (The Governmental Structure of Contemporary Iran), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Government and Law in the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1973,128 pp.

Ye. A. Doroshyenko's book, Shiitskoye dukhovyenstvo v sovryemyennom Irane (The Shiite Clergy in Contemporary Iran), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1975,172 pp.

Sh. M. Badi's Gorodskiye sryedniye sloi Irana (The Urban Middle Classes of Iran), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1977,232 pp.

A. Rasadi's Innostranniy kapital v Iraneposlye vtoroy mirovoy voyni (1945–1967 eg.) (Foreign Capital in Iran After the Second World War, 1945–1967), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, 1973,126 pp.

N. S. Tikhonov's Zapadnogyermanskiy kapital v Iranye (West‐German Capital in Iran), Baku, Elm Press for the Institute of the Peoples of the Near and Middle East of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, 1972, 100 pp.

U. Z. Sharipov's Byudzhyet i byudzhyetnaya sistyema Irana (The Budget and the Budgetary System of Iran), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1976, 156 pp.

Istoriya Irana (The History of Iran) was prepared by the Oriental Faculty of Leningrad State University and published in Moscow, Moscow University Press, 1977, 488 pp.

Iran: ochyerki novyeyshyey istorii (Iran: Essays on Its Recent History), Moscow, Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1976, 470 pp. Edited by A. Z. Arabadzhyan     

Soviet works on Middle Eastern minorities

V.I. Dyamlov, ’Natsional'niye myenshinstva i natsional'naya burdzhuaziya Yegipta (pyervaya polovina XXv.)‘

Arabskiye strani: istoriya i sovryemyennosC, Arab Countries: History and Present

(Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1981; 248 pp.).

M.A. Rodionov's book is Maroniti: Iz etnokonfyessional'noy istorii Vostochnogo Sryedizyemnomor'ya, The Maronites: APart of the Ethno‐Confessional History of the Eastern Mediterranean (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy

of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1982; 136 pp.).

Z.A. Myentyeshashvili's Byerbyeri v obshchyestvyenno‐politichyeskoy dzhizni Marokko (50–70‐ye godi XX v.), The Berbers in Morocco's Socio‐political Life, the 1950s to the 1970s

(Moscow: Nauka Press for the Tiflis State University, 1985; 152 pp.).

Kurdskoye dvidzhyeniye v novoye i novyeyshye vryemya, The Kurdish Movement in Modern and Contemporary Times (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Armenian Soviet Republic, 1987; 301 pp.)

Natsional'noye dvidzhyeniye Kurdov v Iranye (1918–1947 gg.), The National Movement of the Kurds in Iran, 1918–47 (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1988; 168 pp.), by O.I. Dzhigalina

Present‐Day Asia: Ethno‐Cultural and National‐Political Processes (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1989; 173 pp.).     

The Ecuadorian Army: Neglecting a Porous Border While Policing the Interior

This article challenges two prominent explanations for military behavior: militaries, like other bureaucracies, will seek to maximize their budgets; and in the interest of maintaining professionalism, militaries will perform sovereignty missions—external defense and counterinsurgency—more intensively than policing functions. Running counter to these expectations, since 2000, Ecuador's army has neglected its professional, lucrative mission of northern border defense, instead focusing on police work. The analysis applies organization theory to argue that the army's minimal border defense efforts have been a way to maintain predictability for patrols on the ground, the part of the army that most directly performs the army's core function of security. Specifically, the article traces how a contradiction has emerged in the army's border mission. The contradiction has meant anything but predictability for the work of troops patrolling the border, compromising the mission.