Russian Foreign, Defence and Security Policy

Photographer: Robert L. Larsson

Russian studies conducted as part of the RUFS project (Russian Foreign, Defence and Security Policy) focus on Russia’s military capability in a ten-year perspectiveviewed against a background of the developments within several sectors of Russian society. These primarily include developments in Russian domestic, foreign and security policy, as well as democratic and economic developments, primarily focused on the defence economy.

In addition, the state of Russian research and development efforts is also analysed, along with the military industrial sector and civilian-military relations. Within the military sector, besides the development of various types of weapons, studies are also conducted of doctrines and Russian military strategic thinking.
The ten-year assessments are conducted regularly  every two or three years. In the interim, in-depth studies of the influencing factors and sectors are made.  The studies have been commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Commission and in certain cases, also by other ministries, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The project has a comprehensive contact network with Swedish and international institutes, as well as with individual researchers in this area. Large conferences are arranged every other year, as well as regularly occurring seminars, workshops and lectures.

The number of researchers at FOI participating in the project varies between five and seven. In addition, both Swedish and international experts are also periodically involved. The project participants actively take part in the debate on Russian developments and the project has received a significant amount of attention alsointernationally, including in Russia.