Sotilaspolitiikka Kremlin Olympoksella. Venäjän sotilasreformin diskursiivinen rakentuminen venäläisessä sanomalehdistössä 2008–2012

Tutkimus käsittelee venäläisessä sanomalehdistössä esiintyvää keskustelua Venäjän sotilasreformista. Tutkimuksessa haluttiin selvittää, millaisia diskursseja keskustelussa käytetään sotilasreformin oikeuttamiseksi ja miten ne toimivat vallankäytön välineenä. Tutkimus on monitieteinen. Se antaa vastauksia kielitieteellisessä kehyksessä kielen ja diskurssin roolista päätöksenteossa, yhteiskuntatieteellisessä kehyksessä venäläisestä mediasta ja päätöksentekojärjestelmästä sekä sotatieteellisessä kehyksessä asevoimien kehityksestä ja sotilaspolitiikasta. Tutkimuksen primääriaineisto muodostuu 220 artikkelista, jotka kerättiin yhdeksästä venäläisestä sanomalehdestä vuosien 2008–2012 ajalta. Venäjän johtohenkilöt ja heitä tukevat sanomalehdet oikeuttivat sotilasreformia julkisessa keskustelussa ensisijaisesti viiden syyn avulla: uhkien lisääntymisellä, sodan kuvan muutoksella, asevoimien kalustollisella ja toiminnallisella jälkeenjääneisyydellä, henkilöstön osaamisen alhaisella tasolla ja tarpeella toiminnan järkeistykseen. Sotilasreformin päätöksiä oikeutettiin vetoamalla niiden huolelliseen suunnitteluun, henkilöstön asialliseen kohteluun ja taloudellisten asioiden vakauteen. Sanomalehdistössä esiintyi paljon toisistaan poikkeavia näkemyksiä kehitykseen tarvittavasta suunnasta. Suurin osa kritisoivista diskursseista keskittyi kritisoimaan reformin toteutusta, ei sen olemassaoloa. Kritiikki keskittyi tiedotuksen ja demokraattisen päätöksenteon puutteeseen sekä epäilyksiin reformin valmisteluprosessista. Venäjän asevoimia ja sotilaspolitiikkaa koskevaa uutisointia on ongelmallista tarkastella ilman diskurssikäytäntöjen huomiointia. Venäjän johdon ja sen legitimiteettiä vahvistavien sanomalehtien diskursiivisen vallankäytön tavoitteena on saada Venäjä näyttämään todellisuutta vahvemmalta ja yhtenäisemmältä. Vaikka venäläinen media ja siinä etenkin televisio ei ole vapaata, sanomalehdistö on verrattain hyvä tiedonlähde. Sen varsin monipuolinen omistajuus tutkimusaineiston rajauksen aikana mahdollisti erilaisten näkökulmien esillepääsyn. Analyyttisimmin sotilasreformista uutisoivat ne sanomalehdet, jotka eivät nähneet länsimaita Venäjän uhkana ja representoivat diskursseissaan liberalistisia arvoja kuten avoimuutta ja demokratiaa. Sanomalehdistön vaatimaton rooli venäläisessä mediakentässä heikentää kuitenkin sen vaikuttavuutta yleiseen mielipiteeseen. Sanomalehtien diskurssikäytäntöjen analysointi ideologioiden ja vallankäytön kautta voi tarjota mahdollisuuksia parantaa venäläisen valtionjohdon päätösten ennustettavuutta.

Commitment to military service among Finnish conscripts

This research establishes the primary components, predictors, and consequences of organizational commitment in the military context. Specifically, the research examines commitment to the military service among Finnish conscripts and whether initial affective commitment prior to service predicts later commitment, attitudes, behavior, and performance, and, furthermore, analyzes the changes in commitment and its possible outcomes. The data were collected from records as well as by surveys from 1,387 rank and file soldiers, immediately after they reported for duty, near the end of basic training, and near the end of 6 to 12 months of service. The data covered a wide array of predictor variables, including background items, attitudes toward conscription, mental and physical health, sociability, training quality, and leadership. Moreover, the archival data included such items as rank, criminal record, performance ratings, and the number of medical examines and exemptions. The measures were further refined based on the results of factor analysis and reliability tests. The results indicated that initial commitment significantly corresponded with expected adjustment, intentions to stay in the military, and acceptance of authority. Moreover, initial commitment moderately related to personal growth, perceived performance, and the number of effective service days at the end of service. During basic training, affective commitment was mostly influenced by challenging training, adjustment experiences, regimentation, and unit climate. At the end of service, committed soldiers demonstrated more personal growth and development in service, had higher-level expected performance, and less malingering during their service. Additionally, they had significantly more positive attitudes toward national defense. The results suggest that affective commitment requires adequate personal adjustment, experiences of personal growth and development, and satisfaction with unit dynamics and training. This research contributes to the theoretical discussion on organizational commitment and the will to defend the nation and advances developing models to support and manage conscript training, education, leadership, and personnel policy. This is achieved by determining the main factors and variables, including their relative strength, that affect commitment to the military service. These findings may also facilitate in designing programs aimed at reducing unwanted discharges and inadequate performance. In particular, these results provide tools for improving conscripts’ overall attachment to and identification with the military service.

Strike hard, strike sure - Operation Musketeer : British military planning during the Suez Crisis, 1956

Operation Musketeer, a combined joint Anglo-French operation aimed at regaining control of the Suez Canal in 1956, has received much attention from scholars. The most common approach to the crisis has been to examine the political dimension. The political events that led Prime Minister Anthony Eden’s cabinet to decide to use military force against the wishes of their superior American ally and in the face of American economic pressure and a Soviet threat to attack Paris and London with rockets have been analysed thoroughly. This is particularly the case because the ceasefire and eventual withdrawal were an indisputable defeat of British policy in the Middle East. The military operation not only ruined Prime Minister Eden’s career, but it also diminished the prestige of Britain. It was the beginning of the end, some claim. The British Empire would never be the same. As the consequences of using force are generally considered more important than the military operations themselves, very little attention has been paid to the military planning of Operation Musketeer. The difference between the number of publications on Operation Corporate of the Falklands War and Operation Musketeer is striking. Not only has there been little previous research on the military aspects of Musketeer, the conclusions drawn in the existing works have not reached a consensus. Some historians, such as Correlli Barnett, compare Musketeer to the utter failures of the Tudor landings and Gallipoli. Among significant politicians, Winston Churchill, who had retired from the prime ministership only a year before the Suez Crisis, described the operation as “the most ill-conceived and ill-executed imaginable”. Colin McInnes, a well-known author on British defence policy, represents the middle view when he describes the execution as “far from failure”. Finally, some, like Julian Thompson, the Commander of 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, rate the military action itself as being successful. The interpretation of how successful the handling of the Suez Crisis was from the military point of view depends very much on the approach taken and the areas emphasised in the subject. Frequently, military operations are analysed in isolation from other events. The action of a country’s armed forces is separated from the wider context and evaluated without a solid point of comparison. Political consequences are often used as validated criteria, and complicated factors contributing to military performance are ignored. The lack of comprehensive research on the military action has left room for an analysis concentrating on the military side of the crisis.

Evolution of the Finnish military doctrine, 1945-1985

Finnish Defence Studies is published under the auspices of the War College, and the contributions reflect the fields of research and teaching of the College. Finnish Defence Studies will occasionally feature documentation on Finnish Security Policy. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily imply endorsement by the War College.

Flank or front : an assessment of military-political developments in the High North

Finnish Defence Studies is published under the auspices of the War College, and the contributions reflect the fields of research and teaching of the College. Finnish Defence Studies will occasionally feature documentation on Finnish Security Policy. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily imply endorsement by the War College.

Non-offensive defence : a criteria model of military credibility

Finnish Defence Studies is published under the auspices of the War College, and the contributions reflect the fields of research and teaching of the College. Finnish Defence Studies will occasionally feature documentation on Finnish Security Policy. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily imply endorsement by the War College.

Development of military technology and its impact on the Finnish land warfare doctrine

Finnish Defence Studies is published under the auspices of the War College, and the contributions reflect the fields of research and teaching of the College. Finnish Defence Studies will occasionally feature documentation on Finnish Security Policy. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily imply endorsement by the War College.

The impact of arms technology on military doctrines

Finnish Defence Studies is published under the auspices of the War College, and the contributions reflect the fields of research and teaching of the College. Finnish Defence Studies will occasionally feature documentation on Finnish Security Policy. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily imply endorsement by the War College.

Civilian-military cooperation in crisis management operations

Finnish Defence Studies is published under the auspices of the National Defence College, and the contributions reflect the fields of research and teaching of the College. Finnish Defence Studies will occasionally feature documentation on Finnish Security Policy. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily imply endorsement by the National Defence College.