The influence of regional conflicts and military reform on the 2010 and 2014 Military Doctrines of the Russian Federation: an analysis of the development and current force posture of the Russian conventional ground forces

The 2010 and 2014 Military Doctrines of the Russian Federation, as planning documents for the armed forces, have been influenced and guided, both directly and indirectly, by the recent regional conflicts in Georgia and Crimea, as well as by the ongoing ‘New Look’ military reforms. The perceived threat by Russia of the continued eastward expansion by NATO into their periphery and region of influence not only provided the impetus for military action, but the deliberate inclusion of NATO as a military threat and main external danger in both doctrines. From the Russian perspective, the expansion of NATO and infringement in their sphere of influence can only be dissuaded by show of force, and as a result, the desire to protect its national interests and regional hegemony is reflected prominently in the doctrines. The ‘New Look’ military reforms on the other hand, regardless of the radical and sweeping changes on the structure and posture of the armed forces, had very little impact on either doctrine. In complete contradiction both documents continued to stress the requirements of a Soviet-style mobilization reserve and other such aspects similar to the pre-reform Russian military force. As a result, the current military doctrine has left the present-day Russian armed forces, specifically the ground forces, contending with how to confront the continued threat of NATO expansion and prepare for future regional conflicts, while attempting to strike the appropriate balance between a smaller, permanent-readiness force, and a large mobilization army

Churn, Baby, Churn: Strategic Dynamics Among Dominant and Fringe Firms in a Segmented Industry

This paper integrates and extends the literatures on industry evolution and dominant firms to develop a dynamic theory of dominant and fringe competitive interaction in a segmented industry. It argues that a dominant firm, seeing contraction of growth in its current segment(s), enters new segments in which it can exploit its technological strengths, but that are sufficiently distant to avoid cannibalization. The dominant firm acts as a low-cost Stackelberg leader, driving down prices and triggering a sales takeoff in the new segment. We identify a “churn” effect associated with dominant firm entry: fringe firms that precede the dominant firm into the segment tend to exit the segment, while new fringe firms enter, causing a net increase in the number of firms in the segment. As the segment matures and sales decline in the segment, the process repeats itself. We examine the predictions of the theory with a study of price, quantity, entry, and exit across 24 product classes in the desktop laser printer industry from 1984 to 1996. Using descriptive statistics, hazard rate models, and panel data methods, we find empirical support for the theoretical predictions