ISBN 92-808-1079-0 2003, 284 pages US$26.95, paper

In the 1990s, while the Soviet Union disintegrated, Russia continued to maintain its longstanding obligations and strategic interests. Although no longer lawfully constituted to intervene directly in the conflicts that erupted in Georgia, Moldova, and Tajikistan, Russian forces nevertheless influenced the conduct of the conflict and, more overtly, the peace process that followed. Regional Peacekeepers investigates the Russian military presence in its former Soviet territory, to determine whether these forces have been genuinely peacekeeping or are in fact a post-imperial presence that seeks to maintain former strategic interests. The volume includes first hand accounts of the CIS peacekeeping efforts in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Moldova, and Tajikistan. These are juxtaposed with contemporary assessments of Russian peacekeeping efforts, alongside NATO forces, as well as in Chechnya. The authors conclude that although the Russian strategic intent may have been hegemonic, in real terms the manifestation of the “peacekeepers” on the ground is now benign and probably not militarily capable of furthering Russian strategic aims.

John Mackinlay is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Defence Studies and Senior Lecturer of the War Studies Department, Kings College London. Peter Cross is Project Co-ordinator at Saferworld, a London-based foreign affairs think-tank.

Table of Contents:
Russian Peacekeeping Policies • The Russian Separate Airborne Brigade-Peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina • Russian Peacekeeping • Operations in Georgia • The Russian Armed Forces in Chechnya 1994 • Russian Peacekeeping in Moldova: Source of Stability or Neo-imperialist Threat? • CIS Peacekeeping in Tajikistan • The Evolution of Russian Peacekeeping under President Putin • The Paradox of Russian Peacekeeping

List of Contributors:
John Mackinlay • Peter Cross • Domitilla Sagramoso • Jacob W. Kipp • Tarn Warren • Yevhen Sharov • Timothy Thomas • Trevor Waters • Andres Smith Serrano • Dmitry V. Polikanov