Title: 
Headings:  Russia’s Reflexive Control Theory and the Military
Russia’s
 
Reflexive
 
Control
 
Theory
 
and
 
the
 
Military
 

TIMOTHY
 
L.
 
THOMAS
 

INTRODUCTION
 

NATURE
 
OF
 
REFLEXIVE
 
CONTROL
 

THE
 
MILITARY
 
EXPERTS
 
SPEAK:
 
IONOV,
 
LEONENKO,
 
KOMOV,
 
CHAUSOV
 

US
 
INTERPRETATION
 
OF
 
RUSSIA’S
 
RC
 
THEORY
 

RECENT
 
EXAMPLES
 
OF
 
RC
 

FINAL
 
THOUGHTS
 
ON
 
RC
 

DISCLAIMER
 


Content: As
 
a
result,
 
some
 
Russians
 
are
 
now
 
asking
 
themselves
 
whether
 
the
 
concept
of
 
information
 
warfare
 
is
 
yet
 
another
 
US
 
attempt
 
to
 
control
 
them
“reflexively”
 
and
 
to
 
force
 
them
 
to
 
invest
 
vast
 
sums
 
of
 
money
 
in
 
a
 
realm
that
 
is
 
simply
 
beyond
 
their
 
technological
 
reach
 
in
 
the
 
near
 
future. The
 
Soviet
 
and
 
Russian
 
Armed
 
Forces
 
have
 
long
 
studied
 
the
 
use
of
 
reflexive
 
control
 
theory,
 
particularly
 
at
 
the
 
tactical
 
and
 
opera-
tional
 
levels,
 
both
 
for
 
maskirovka
 
(deception)
 
and
 
disinformation
purposes
 
and,
 
potentially,
 
to
 
control
 
the
 
enemy’s
 
decision-making
processes.2
 
For
 
example,
 
the
 
Russian
 
Army
 
had
 
a
 
military
 
maskirovka
school
 
as
 
early
 
as
 
1904
 
that
 
was
 
later
 
disbanded
 
in
 
1929. This
school,
 
the
 
Higher
 
School
 
of
 
Maskirovka,
 
provided
 
the
 
bases
 
for
maskirovka
 
concepts
 
and
 
created
 
manuals
 
for
 
future
 
generations.3
Since
 
the
 
early
 
1960s,
 
there
 
have
 
been
 
many
 
Russian
 
intellectual
“giants”
 
who
 
have
 
emerged
 
in
 
the
 
field
 
of
 
reflexive
 
theory. In
 
the
civilian
 
sector,
 
these
 
include
 
G.
 
P.
 
Schedrovitsky,
 
V.
 
E.
 
Lepsky,
V.
 
A.
 
Lefebvre
 
(who
 
now
 
lives
 
in
 
the
 
West),
 
D.
 
A.
 
Pospelov,
V.
 
N.
 
Burkov,
 
and
 
many
 
others. The
 
foremost
 
theorists
 
in
 
the
 
mili-
tary
 
sector
 
include
 
V.
 
V.
 
Druzhinin,
 
M.
 
D.
 
Ionov,
 
D.
 
S.
 
Kontorov,
S.
 
Leonenko,
 
and
 
several
 
others. One
 
of
 
the
 
civilian
 
theorists,
 
Lepsky,
who
 
also
 
is
 
the
 
editor
 
of
 
the
 
new
 
RC
 
journal,
 
hopes
 
that
 
the
 
current
US-Russian
 
cooperation
 
in
 
the
 
realm
 
of
 
reflexive
 
control
 
will
 
move
Russo-American
 
relations
 
from
 
the
 
paradigm
 
of
 
IW/IO
 
(confrontation,
struggle)
 
to
 
a
 
paradigm
 
of
 
partnership
 
(the
 
control
 
of
 
confrontation). His
 
is
 
a
 
noble
 
cause
 
and
 
one
 
that
 
must
 
be
 
taken
 
seriously. There
 
is
 
a
 
growing
 
realization
 
on
 
both
 
sides
 
that
 
Lepsky’s
 
two
paradigms
 
will
 
evolve
 
in
 
parallel. US
 
and
 
Russian
 
theorists
 
are
engaged
 
in
 
joint
 
work
 
regarding
 
conflict
 
prevention
 
theory
 
and
 
are
working
 
together
 
in
 
Bosnia
 
and
 
Kosovo. At
 
the
 
same
 
time,
 
both
countries
 
are
 
carrying
 
out
 
reflexive
 
control
 
work
 
independently
 
in
the
 
military
 
sector.