Corruption investigations in the MoD - Filed under: Speculation

This is just a kind of tidbit - a nugget of joy - along with some wild speculation.  For what it's worth.

There has been a story developing about corruption among Russia's Defense Ministry's property department.  That has led to what appears to be a full investigation with documents and other items being seized today in Moscow.

From the article in RIA:

Oboronservis was set up in 2008 and carries out repair and services for Defense Ministry properties as well as repair and maintenance of military equipment and provision of services to military garrison towns. 

A law enforcement source told RIA Novosti that no detentions are planned in the near future as part of the ongoing investigation. 

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov was informed of the investigation and arrived at one of the locations being searched, law enforcement sources said on Thursday morning. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin met with Serdyukov and instructed him to ensure interaction with investigators on the Oboroneservis case. 

Presidential administration head Sergei Ivanov said it will be up to the court to rule who is guilty. 

“Only the court may determine whether a person is guilty or not. All the rest is vibrating air and propaganda,” Ivanov told journalists.

More details about the latest seizure and ongoing investigation can be found here.

Speculations

Now for the wild speculation.  It does not seem that any large and visible investigation such as this one is every done without the knowledge/approval of the Kremlin.  This investigation, and its timing, may indicate the model of having civilians as a part of the ministry of defense, and part of the defense and security structures within Russia, is under attack.  Many in the military have been unhappy with the civilian head of the Defense Ministry.  A good bio can be found at Wikipedia.

This may be more "Clan" maneuvering among Russia's elites, especially given the fact that Ivanov's held the position of Defense Minister prior to moving over to be head of the the Presidential administration in 2007.  If Kremlin watching is back in vogue, this makes for compelling television.

Why arms control is hard...

This item has been sitting in my reader for a few days.  This statement, made by Vladimir Putin, touches on so many aspects of international relations that I didn't quite know what direction I wanted to take in examining it.  First, the statement:

"Only sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council can serve as a basis for restricting weapons supplies to any particular country. In all other cases, nobody can use any pretext to dictate to Russia or any other country on how they should trade and with whom."

I would like to address two interesting points from the standpoint of my own research on arms transfer that this statement evinces.

1. Arms control is inherently difficult to begin if the two states that have the largest stake in the arms transfer game have an effective veto on limitations of their right to sell weapons.  This is a highly rational position for Russia to take if it sees arms sales as a vital part of its economic, military, or foreign policy portfolio. The built-in veto of the security council turns this international organization into a forum for state to state diplomacy rather than international action in the case of arms transfers.  What I mean by this is that in the case of the US and Russia having disputes over arms transfers to Syria, for example, the veto on the security council by each state means that either state can effectively get what they want in the absence of all but the most spirited international consensus.  
2. The second point is that Putin seems to put arms sales in the same category as other trade.  Nobody can dictate how they trade and with whom.  This is a very interesting sentiment for a state which recently was accepted into the WTO to have.  

The question about arms transfers being a different type of trade is one that I'll leave to another time.  However, Russia continues to hold firm to its position of autonomy in foreign policy.  Its leaders are unwilling to allow the state to be constrained by other states (i.e. the United States) or even by the international community more broadly.