Blitzkrieg and the Russian Art of War - (Russian Strategy and Power) by Andrew Monaghan

About the Book

Blitzkrieg and the Russian art of war moves beyond discussions of 'hybrid' warfare to offer a broad account of contemporary Russian thinking on war. Exploring key concepts in Russian military thinking, it contributes to the debate about Russia's role in international affairs and the challenge the country poses to the international order.

Book Synopsis

A cutting-edge investigation of how Russia makes war.

Russian strategy in the twenty-first century has been framed in terms of 'hybrid' warfare, an approach characterised by interference in domestic politics through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns. But as the invasion of Ukraine has brutally demonstrated, conventional armed violence remains a key element of Russian power.

In Blitzkrieg and the Russian art of war, Russia expert Andrew Monaghan moves beyond hybridity to offer a high-level view of Russian thinking about warfare. He draws directly on Russian sources to address important questions that have been overlooked by most Western commentators: what is the military leadership's distinctive idea of twenty-first-century blitzkrieg? How does it understand holistic territorial defence? How does it manage the shifting balance between offence and defence?

Introducing key concepts from Russian military thinking, Blitzkrieg and the Russian art of war is a crucial resource for understanding Russia's resurgent role in international affairs and the devastating threat the country poses to the international order.

About the Author

Andrew Monaghan is Director of the Russia Research Network and a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London. He is the author of The New Politics of Russia (2024) and Dealing with the Russians (2019).