19
assistance programmes to be more successful in Russia, they also need to target what have
been termed ‘grey area’ forces.
52
Ekaterina Stepanova argues that the grey area forces- the
Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Emergencies and Federal Security Service – all play a
central role in Russia’s post-conflict situations.
53
Ministry of Interior forces in Russia alone
are made up of 220,000 well-equipped men. Broadening out military assistance
programmes of inculcating democratic norms and values as well as democratic
professionalism to include these non-regular forces would ensure that they make a much
better contribution to security sector reform.
A further way in which the programmes might be improved is to look at better ways
of assessing their impact. As externally funded programmes are a process, not an event,
often dealing with intangibles such as encouraging democratic norms and values, they are
difficult to measure and it is almost impossible to prove a causal link between these norms
and values and an observable change in behaviour or policy.
54
This process of assessing
the impact of military programmes in Russia is obscured by the lack of detailed record taking
of which officer/civilian was trained and a follow up on where they were promoted to and
what impact they had on policy or shaping the debate. Without this detailed information it is
difficult to determine the impact of training and education on SSR.
Internal barriers to effective programmes in Russia
The impact of the military assistance programmes is limited by three main factors:
the failure of the Russian Federation to implement a coherent and workable reform
package; the centralisation of power in Russia under Yeltsin and the lack of democratic
oversight and control over defence and security issues; and the lack of progress towards
democracy which has hampered the development of an effective civil society able to act
as a check, balance and source of alternative information on these issues.
52
Ekaterina Stepanova, ‘The Use of Russia’s ‘Grey Area’ Forces in Post-Conflict Environments’, CMR
Network, January 2002.
53
Ibid.
Convention