Revolution in Military Affairs Blitzkrieg and the Russian Art of War with Andrew Monaghan
Mar 16, 2026
Andrew Monaghan, a scholar of Russian strategy with roles at NATO Defense College and RUSI, discusses how Russian military thought draws from European theorists like Clausewitz and Delbrück. He explores Napoleon’s enduring influence, the idea of quick decisive strikes versus avoiding knockout blows, mobilisation as the heart of war, and what Russian power may look like by 2030.
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Russian Thought Is Deeply European
- Russian military thought shares deep European roots rather than being wholly exotic or separate from Western theory.
- Andrew Monaghan points to Clausewitz, Jomini, Delbrück and Liddell Hart as mutual references shaping Russian strategic debate and practice.
War As State Mobilisation Not Just Operations
- Moscow treats war as a state-level mobilisation problem, not just military operations, linking armed force to socio-economic capacity.
- Monaghan highlights four pivotal shifts in Russian war thinking tied to state policy: 1929–36, late 1950s–60s, Gorbachev era, and 2012–13 mobilisation focus.
The Overhand Right Keeps Reappearing
- Russian campaigns since 1920 repeatedly aim for a quick decisive 'overhand right' knockout but often fail and devolve into longer conflicts.
- Monaghan ties this pattern to poor alignment between political decisions and what armed forces can deliver, citing examples from Poland/Finland to Chechnya and Ukraine.
