-Caveat Lector- http://nw3.nai.net/~virtual/sot/unrep.htm Military Granted Larger Formal Role in Russian Foreign Policy 1554 GMT, 990615 Russian President Boris Yeltsin has reportedly approved agreements reached at the meeting of the Russian Security Council, which state that the Foreign Ministry will coordinate all of Russia's future Kosovo activities with other government offices. According to Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, "Synchronization of the performance of the Foreign Ministry, the military, and the government is the rigid algorithm whose performance started today." First, this is a very public, clear, and appalling admission on the part of Stepashin and Yeltsin that a massive rift opened inside the Kremlin over Russian foreign policy. Despite the personal assurances of Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov that Russian troops would not enter Kosovo without first coordinating with NATO, Russian troops did just that, sweeping in ahead of NATO forces and seizing Slatina airbase near Pristina. Just who ordered the Russian troops into Kosovo is a matter of some confusion. Certainly Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin was out of the loop, as, it appears, was Ivanov. The official Russian story is that Yeltsin approved the decision to send troops, but left it up to the Russian General Staff to decide the time. An equally plausible option was that the Russian military, sick and tired of the Russian moderates' handling of the Kosovo crisis as well as broader foreign policy, presented the deployment as a fait accompli to Yeltsin. Yeltsin, always the political weathervane, saw which way the wind was blowing and embraced the Army's move, promoting the maneuver's commander to Colonel General. Whatever transpired, the Russian deployment pulled the rug out from under the Foreign Ministry, which scrambled as quickly as NATO to figure out what had happened. It then demanded a meeting of Russia's Security Council to guarantee that something like this does not happen again. So now, it has been resolved that the Foreign Ministry will coordinate all of Russia's future Kosovo activities with other government offices. A victory for the Foreign Ministry and Russia's moderates? Not likely. The Foreign Ministry did not have its demands met in the Security Council meeting -- the Defense Ministry did. One of the basic principles of civilian governments is the supremacy of the government over the military. The civilian foreign policy apparatus makes decisions and the military is deployed as needed to carry out those decisions. The military may think the civilian leadership is saturated with idiots, but it obeys orders. Now, in Russia, the Foreign Ministry must coordinate all future Kosovo activities with the Defense Ministry. Far from reining in the Russian military, this agreement gives the military a significant formal say in Russian foreign policy. What should have been considered a massive overstep of the political process and the chain of command -- with the Russian commander in Kosovo court martialed, not promoted -- instead has resulted in the elevation of the military in the Russian political process. [EMAIL PROTECTED] � 1998, 1999 Stratfor, Inc. All rights reserved. . DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
