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Source:
Dale Herspring, 785-532-6842 or 785-431-3057, falka@k-state.edu
http://www.mediarelations.k-state.edu/WEB/News/MediaGuide/herspringbio.html
Thursday,
October 19, 2006
K-STATE'S
DALE HERSPRING WRITES NEW BOOK ABOUT RUSSIAN LEADERSHIP AND MILITARY
MANHATTAN
-- The Russian military and how it has fared under the country's
top political leadership since the end of the Cold War is the topic
of the latest book by Kansas State University's Dale Herspring.
"The
Kremlin and the High Command: Presidential Impact on the Russian
Military from Gorbachev to Putin" was released recently by
the University of Kansas Press. Herspring is a professor of political
science at K-State and an expert on foreign policy, particularly
in Russia, Germany and Eastern Europe.
Herspring's
new book is the first to assess the relationship between the Russian
military and the political leadership under Presidents Mikhail Gorbachev,
Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.
He
depicts an outmoded and demoralized military force still struggling
to free itself from Cold War paradigms, while failing to confront
not only debacles in Afghanistan and Chechnya but also a rise in
crime and corruption within the ranks. Herspring reveals how Gorbachev
neglected the military to save Russia from internal collapse and
how Yeltsin reneged on continuing promises of support. And, while
Putin claims a better understanding of the armed forces, he has
severely tightened his control over the military while monitoring
its struggle toward modernization.
Herspring
argues that Russian presidential leadership -- or a significant
lack thereof -- has been the key variable determining the kind of
military Russia puts in the field. It has been up to the president
to ensure that the high command makes a successful transition to
the new polity -- otherwise combat readiness will decline and generals
and admirals could become politicized.
By
focusing on how the high command has reacted to each president's
decisions and leadership style, Herspring shows that, in spite of
the continued importance of the military's bureaucratic structure,
personality factors have assumed a much more important role than
in the past.
Herspring
also is the author of "The Pentagon and the Presidency: Civil-Military
Relations from FDR to George W. Bush," "Requiem for an
Army," "Russian Civil-Military Relations" and several
other books. In addition, he has written more than more than 80
articles.
Herspring
spent more than 20 years in the U.S. State Department's Foreign
Service and in the U.S. Navy, both in active and reserve duty.
He
is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. The council, established
in 1921, is the most prestigious foreign policy organization in
the United States. A nonpartisan group, the council meets with key
foreign policy-makers and experts. Membership on the panel includes
some of the nation's top individuals in business, academe, media
and government.
His
other honors include being a senior fellow at the Woodrow Wilson
Center from 1991-92; a grant from the United States Institute of
Peace in 1991-92; a Fulbright Fellow from 1969-71; K-State Mortar
Board outstanding adviser in 1997; membership in Phi Kappa Phi,
a national academic honor society; and K-State's 2004 Commerce Bank
Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award.
Herspring
graduated with a bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1965.
He received his master's degree from Georgetown University in 1967
and his doctoral degree from the University of Southern California
in 1972. He joined K-State in 1993.
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