The world respects the strong

Reviewing the draft of the new Military Doctrine of Belarus

The revision of the Military Doctrine, the most important document in the field of military 
security, which was discussed at a meeting of the Security Council with the participation of the Belarus President on January 16th, is at the final stage. The directions of its transformation are of particular importance, especially taking into account the start of the next NATO strategic exercise Steadfast Defender — 2024 close to our borders. The manoeuvres involve up to 90 thousand troops from 31 countries of the alliance as well as Sweden, which has de facto already joined it.

Without false political correctness

In the recent history of Belarus, the Military Doctrine has been adopted (amended) three times — in 1992, 2002 and 2016. The provisions of the military doctrines of previous years clearly demonstrate the change in approaches to the formation of national military policy. The 1992 document was a vivid reflection of its era. At that time the West, having won the Cold War, was convincing all post-Soviet states of its ‘democracy and peacefulness’, the need for global 
disarmament and the end of confrontation era. Yet, the West did not take a single step on its part towards demilitarization. 
The first Military Doctrine was aimed at strengthening state and international security. It was based on the concept
of armed neutrality and the ideology of ‘new thinking’, which denied the use of force to achieve political goals, and proclaimed the priority of universal human interests over national and state ones.
Over the next ten years, drastic political and military changes took place. Accordingly, views on ensuring military security evolved, which was reflected in the Military Doctrine of 2002. It was purely defensive in nature and declared that ‘none of the states is currently a potential enemy for us (Belarus)’.

It can be stated that at that historical stage, the country’s military and political leadership took off the rose-coloured glasses of Western political correctness, realised the unscrupulousness of ‘developed democracies’ and began to form the basis of a system for defending its own national interests.

Collective protection

Approved on July 20th, 2016, the current third edition of the Military Doctrine was a new-level document that incorporated all the best practices that had appeared in the field of military science.
In particular, this refers to revolutionary changes in military science related to hybrid wars and special actions, precision strike systems and weapons based on new physical principles, the widespread use of ‘colour revolution’ mechanisms and confrontation in the information (mental) sphere.

The revision of the Military Doctrine provisions was due to the increased pressure on our country from the West, the growing aggressiveness of NATO, the largescale use of tools for a violent coup d’état in sovereign states, the process of Nazification of Ukraine and the armed conflict in Donbass.

The main objectives of the country’s military policy were defined as maintaining international peace and security, preventing the threat of unleashing war and ensuring the guarantee of national security of the state against possible military threats. Along with that, the doctrine has preserved a defensive orientation.

In fact, in the third decade of the 21st century, the planet entered the ‘hot stage’ of the world reconstruction. The system of checks and balances created after the Second World War, which existed for more than 70 years, has been completely destroyed. New centres of power are rapidly being formed, the West and the United States are consistently losing their influence, and military power is becoming the main political argument.

However, the White House refuses to admit the reality putting a stake on military force, which provokes an upsurge in violence and an increase in the number of armed conflicts. The proxy war initiated in Ukraine by the West is meant to weaken Russia as much as possible and prevent the collapse of the ‘rules-based world order’.

In order to implement their plans, pseudo-democracies are actively introducing artificial intelligence into the military sphere, increasing opportunities for operating in cyberspace, initiating genomic and biological programmes, upgrading robotic systems and nuclear weapons as well as developing weapons based on new physical principles.

There is no doubt that in the near future, a decrease in the level of military danger is not to be expected and the threats to the security of Belarus and the Union State will not diminish in any way,  either. All this forces us to respond
adequately to the changes in the situation and review the provisions of the national Military Doctrine.

Leadership at any cost?

An analysis of the provisions of the draft Military Doctrine of 2024 indicates that the document has been significantly expanded and supplemented. It includes 6 sections that combine 14 chapters containing 122 articles. The total volume of the document is 46 pages. However, its value is not in the volume but in its essence and content. 
Thus, the first section of the doctrine has already been considerably revised and now includes two chapters. The very 
subject matter of the Military Doctrine has been clarified, which in Article 1 is proposed to be understood as ‘a system of officially accepted views in the Republic of Belarus on maintaining international peace and security, ensuring the military security of the Republic of Belarus, its armed defence within the national security framework (previously stated: ensuring its military security)’. There has been determined the interrelation of the document with the defence plan of the Republic of Belarus.
As part of assessing the trends in the development of the military political situation, the sources of threats to Belarus have been clearly identified. These are the USA, NATO, Poland and the Baltic States.
The document provides a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the military political situation unfolding in the world and around Belarus, which allows to reasonably identify both external and internal military threats to our country.
In general, it should be noted that the doctrine has a targeted orientation, reveals the approaches of international entities to the use of military force, and provides predictive assessments of the possible consequences of their development for our state.

There is no development without peace 

For the first time, the national Military Doctrine envisages the possibility of a forceful response to a destructive cyber activity. Article 60 stipulates that ‘in order to suppress or prevent malicious information technology impacts causing disruption in the stable operation of critical infrastructure facilities of the state, the Republic of Belarus will deploy all forces and means of both non-violent and forceful nature in accordance with the legislation regulating information security issues’.
The new Military Doctrine is a thoroughly elaborated and easy-to-grasp document, which reflects the national system of views on maintaining international peace and security, ensuring military security and armed defence of the state. It fully meets modern and prospective security requirements and covers all of its areas while remaining a document for the preservation of peace and not for the escalation of violence or war.

The principle of ‘If you want peace, prepare for war’ is creatively supplemented in this case and 
transformed into truth — There is no development without peace, and a hundred years of negotiations is better than one year of war.

By Nikolai Buzin, Doctor of Military Sciences, Professor, Assistant to the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus