The Russian Way of Deterrence: Reconstitution of Russian Coercion Theory and Strategy following the War in Ukraine

Abstract: From a globally renowned expert on Russian military strategy and national security, The Russian Way of Deterrence investigates Russia's approach to coercion (both deterrence and compellence), comparing and contrasting it with the Western conceptualization of this strategy. Strategic deterrence, or what Dmitry (Dima) Adamsky calls deterrence à la Russe, is one of the main tools of Russian statecraft. Prof. Adamsky deftly describes the genealogy of the Russian approach to coercion and highlights the cultural, ideational, and historical factors that have shaped it in the nuclear, conventional, and informational domains. Drawing on extensive research on Russian strategic culture, Prof. Adamsky highlights several empirical and theoretical peculiarities of the Russian coercion strategy, including how this strategy relates to the war in Ukraine. Exploring the evolution of strategic deterrence, along with its sources and prospective avenues of development, he provides a comprehensive intellectual history that makes it possible to understand the deep mechanics of this Russian stratagem, the current and prospective patterns of the Kremlin's coercive conduct, and the implications for policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Bio: Dmitry (Dima) Adamsky is a full professor at the School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy and the Head of the BA Honors Track in Strategic Studies, at the Reichman University, Israel. He has previously been affiliated with Harvard and Columbia Universities, the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies, and with the Center for Eastern European Studies at the University of Zurich. He is a visiting professor and researcher at the Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania. For more than twenty years Prof. Adamsky has been exploring matters pertaining to international security as a civil servant, university professor, and government consultant on both sides of the Atlantic. He has published on military innovations, strategic culture, nuclear strategy, and U.S., Russian and Israeli national security in Foreign Affairs, Security Studies, Journal of Strategic Studies, Survival, IFRI Notes, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Russian Analytical Digest, Intelligence and National Security, Defense and Security Studies, Washington Quarterly, Slavic Military Studies, Problems of Post-Communism, and Cold War History.