The number of Russian Armed Forces (RFAF) authorized strength at year-end 2017 increased 17,387 to 1,903,758 on the back of disbandment of the Federal Special Construction Agency (Spetsstroy); therefore, the RFAF's total authorized strength rose to 1,013,628 from 1 million. That was the first...

In early 2012 the Armed Forces (AF) were overshadowed by the accident with the fleet ballistic missile submarine (FBMS) K-84 "Yekaterinburg" and its grave consequences. The fire occurred three days before the New Year, during welding works as part of unscheduled repairs of the FBMS and where, in...

This paper deals with Russia’s military policy and with a wide range of issues related to funding the defense program. The accession of the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Federation in March 2014 was not favored by the global community and resulted in Western economic sanctions against...

The diversion of development aid to the recipient's military may be one explanation why aid is often found to be ineffective in promoting economic growth and development. Previous studies have not derived the causal effects of development aid on military expenditure. Using a new instrumental...

The diversion of development aid to the recipient’s military may be one explanation why aid is often found to be ineffective in promoting economic growth and development. Previous studies have not derived the causal effects of development aid on military expenditure. Using a new instrumental...

Using a new instrumental variable strategy, we examine whether bilateral development aid increases military expenditure in recipient countries. The instrument is the interaction of donor government fractionalization and the probability of receiving aid. The dataset includes new data on military...

An arms race exists when a country’s propensity to acquire arms is influenced by a potential adversary’s military spending. When evaluating the impact of economic policies towards the developing world, e.g., foreign assistance programs, it is important to identify if an arms race exist...