Civil-military relations and its problems: Germany and Russia

Abstract

This study is an attempt to compare civil-military relations and its problems in Germany and Russia and to analyse the following overall question : what are the Problems and Challenges of Civi1-Military Relations in Theory, History, Present Time, and Future? The thesis examines five selected issues of civil-military relations and its problems to analyse the overall question and to substantiate the overall thesis : Theory, German history, the Federal Republic of Germany, Russian history, and the Russian Federation I Russia. The present Russian government should analyse the German case to find some answers to the problems of democratization and civil-military relations. But Russia must keep in mind the historical context and the specific circumstances of democratization as well as Innere Fuhrung in Germany after World War II. The central problem is whether Russia will be able to establish a viable democracy like the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II or will relapse into authoritarianism, post-totalitarianism or even totalitarianism and a passion for empire-building and hegemony, like Nazi Germany after the failure of the Weimar Republic. This is really a problem because contemporary Russia seems Weimar Republic than with the Federal Republic of Germany