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Accession Number:
ADA331579
Title:
Commonwealth of Independent States Area Studies Toolbook
Descriptive Note:
Research rept
Corporate Author:
AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COLL MAXWELL AFB AL
Report Date:
1996-04-01
Pagination or Media Count:
19.0
Abstract:
The Commonwealth of Independent States CIS Area Studies ToolBook is an attempt to quantify a broad range of information about the twelve states which comprise the CIS. The authors of the ToolBook present and analyze this information on the leadership, system essentials, infraststructure, population, and military forces of each country in an attempt to inform the reader of some basic facts as well as draw some conclusions about the direction the states of the former Soviet Union are headed. The ToolBook employs Colonel retired John A. Warden s Five Rings analysis method to examine each area for each country and presents a summary analysis section to synthesize the information presented. The implicit question the ToolBook seeks to answer is whether the CIS constitutes a threat to US interests in the near to mid-term future. To even the casual observer it would appear that political and economic upheaval have left the CIS states incapable of posing a threat even to any of their own number, let alone to anyone outside their borders. The ToolBook bears this conclusion out to a large degree with the possible exception of Russia, who as the successor to the lions share of the military, and natural and manmade resources of the former Soviet Union, has demonstrated a proclivity toward playing first among equals within the CIS. The CIS as an organization, however, exercises only as much centralizing influence as its constituent members decide to accord it, and thus far they have not accorded it much, preferring instead to develop independently of one another and cooperating only in those areas where it suits their individual interests.
Distribution Statement:
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
