El complejo militar-industrial ruso: crisis y perspectivas

Abstract

The purpose of the present analysis is to revise the evolution of the so-called soviet military- bureaucratic-industrial complex, its development in the post-cold war and the challenges it represents as the xxi century approaches. There are great differences between both stages. Whereas during the first stage the Soviet Union acted according to strategic considerations closely linked to the bipolar environment and the zero-sum premises, in the second stage, Russia operates above all on criteria strictly commercial, where survival bypasses risks entailed in the indiscriminate sale of military products to countries whose conduct, in international relations cannot be predicted. Above all, Russia is rapidly recovering an outstanding position in armament trade and its most important competitor in this area is the us which benefited in the past from the Soviet collapse in terms of supplying weaponry to the most important consumers and USSR's clients.