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Commissars, Commanders, and Civilian Authority

Commissars, Commanders, and Civilian Authority - Russian Research Center Studies

Reprint 2014th edition

Hardback (16 May 2014)

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Publisher's Synopsis

For six decade the Soviet system has been immune to military rebellion and takeover, which often characterizes modernizing countries. How can we explain the stability of Soviet military politics, asks Timothy Colton in his compelling interpretation of civil-military relations in the Soviet Union.

Hitherto most western scholars have posited a basic dichotomy of interests between the Soviet army and the Communist party. They view the two institutions as conflictprone, with civilian supremacy depending primarily upon the party's control of officers through its organs within the military establishment. Colton challenges this thesis and argues that the military party organs have come to possess few of the attributes of an effective controlling device, and that the commissars and their heirs have operated as allies rather than adversaries of the military commanders. In explaining the extraordinary stability in army-party relations in terms of overlapping interests rather than controlling mechanisms, Colton offers a major case study and a new model to students of comparative military politics.

About the Publisher

Harvard University Press

Founded in 1913, Harvard University Press is the publisher of such classic works as John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, E. O. Wilson's On Human Nature, and Helen Vendler's Dickinson. The Press continues to be a leading publisher of convergent works in the sciences, humanities, and social sciences, while also taking bold steps in exciting new directions, from innovative partnerships, to a diverse translation program, to an expanded commitment to facilitating scholarly conversation around the globe.

Book information

ISBN: 9780674497429
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Pub date:
Edition: Reprint 2014th edition
Language: English
Number of pages: 373
Weight: 712g
Height: 234mm
Width: 156mm
Spine width: 22mm