NEWSLINK: Purge and prejudice: What will the fate of military reform tell us about the anti-corruption campaign?

[Purge and prejudice: What will the fate of military reform tell us about the anti-corruption campaign? – Mark Galeotti – Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Dec. 3, 2012 – Mark Galeotti (Twitter: @markgaleotti) is Professor of Global Affairs at New York University’s SCPS Center for Global Affairs. His blog, “In Moscow’s Shadows,” can be read at http://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com – full article for this entry appears here: http://themoscownews.com/siloviks_scoundrels/20121203/190949555.html]

Mark Galeotti writes on anti-corruption actions and military reform by the Vladimir Putin regime.  There appears to be an increase in anti-corruption efforts, with perhaps unpredictable results:

Putin has reportedly told a closed meeting in the Kremlin that the recent spate of dismissals in the defense ministry are not part of a “campaign” within that institution. Maybe; but what about part of a wider anti-corruption campaign within the elite as a whole?

With so many recent cases being opened, it is clear that this is a new political development. It may be intended to cleanse the government; it is certainly intended to give that impression to the public.

It is questionable whether that will work in reframing the narrative about Putin, making him the stern tsar able to keep the pesky boyars in check. It is even more questionable whether it is actually a way to get things done. If anything, it may prove often the able and the outspoken who become targets, and policy takes second place to a dramatic headline.

As for the military, Putin seems committed to reform, and willing to commit resources, but it make take time for Sergei Shoigu and those under him to develop momentum:

Consider the military after the dismissal of minister Anatoly Serdyukov. In theory, of all institutions, this one ought to be in the ideal position. Putin wants a modernized military and is willing to spend a lot of money on this. Furthermore, in Sergei Shoigu he has appointed a capable and energetic new minister.

However, despite great efforts to show that he has hit the ground running, it will take some time for Shoigu to master his new brief. He holds the courtesy rank of general and now has taken to wearing the uniform, but he is not a soldier.

Meanwhile, he will have to rely on his new Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Valery Gerasimov. His predecessor, Colonel General Makarov, had to go with his boss. Gerasimov is certainly a formidable character. His role in the arrest of Colonel Yury Budanov, who was convicted of kidnapping and raping a Chechen woman, shows that he is willing to take a controversial stand. However, he is no closet liberal but a career soldier who takes his profession seriously. Gerasimov has the toughness to fill Makarov’s role, but it remains to be seen whether he will be more concerned with championing the generals than controlling them. It is notable, after all, that Serdyukov’s habit of weeding out generals in the defense ministry and replacing them with civilians already seems to have been reversed.

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