MANAGING THE IMAGE OF WAR: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RUSSIAN MILITARY DOCTRINE TEXTS 2010 AND 2014

We make a discursive, close reading of the Russian military doctrine texts 2010 and 2014. We focus our analysis on the actors presented in the doctrines, the military dangers and threats facing Russia and the generic characteristics of the contemporary military conflict as presented in the doctrines. We study these representations as textual constructions. Our findings reveal that the doctrines create a defensive posture for Russia. The doctrines construct an image of Russia facing various threats and countering such threats through its military capability. The doctrines include and acknowledge the latest ‘hybrid war’ characterizations used to describe contemporary conflict, yet do not explicitly describe Russia deploying such tactics. The doctrines stay silent about Russia’s tactical or operational means of waging war. Yet, the observations of the recent military conflicts involving Russian Federation reveal that the Russian military is capable of hybrid campaigning. We therefore argue that the military doctrines’ primary function is to legitimate the Russian military’s existence and developmen