Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review

This article surveys a strategic document regulating the military policy of Russia – the military doctrine of 2010 and its practical realization. The main characteristics of the doctrine are analyzed; the doctrine is compared with previous doctrines. Attempts are made to explain how the doctrine’s provisions regarding the threat of NATO to the national security of Russia are related to practical actions of security and foreign policy under realization; at the same time, the article raises the problem of the instrumentality of this document in Russia’s diplomatic policy, the goal of which is to considerably increase its influence on processes taking place in the international system. The author discusses how the main directions of the new military policy – a radical transformation of the military and its initial results – are constructed in the doctrine. The article emphasizes that the optimization and modernization of the armed forces that is going on enhances the military power of Russia, yet the political regime is not oriented towards democratic changes. Both in military policy and in other national security matters, the power of decision-making in essence largely depends on the unilateral decision of the president. This, without any doubt, gives a serious basis for talking about increased threats to the national security of Lithuania.