Contact Lenses: Explaining U.S.-Russian Military-to-Military Ties

Abstract

Despite uncertainties in U.S.-Russian diplomatic relationships, military-to-military contact programs between the two states continued to flourish and were supported by senior military officers on both sides until the Spring 1999 bombing of Serbia put them on hold. This article argues that these programs in fact serve clear mission-related goals for both military organizations. Both sides value the training and military education the programs provide; the Russian side values the opportunity for expressing "voice," or influence, in international security arrangements despite a decline in state power; and, perhaps most important in an era of uncertainty, both sides value the "transparency," or information-sharing, opportunities provided, especially since stability is enhanced when each side's capabilities and intentions are showcased. After describing the current programs in depth and exploring senior officers' opinions about their benefits, the article concludes by showing that surprisingly similar benefits resulted from an earlier instance of military-to-military cooperation, that of secret Soviet German interactions in the 1920s, despite immense differences in the purposes and structures of the two eras.