| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
| 'Whale vs. Elephant' Why the Russian army was recognized as the best in the world | |
| 2023-11-01 | |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Sergey Adamov
In the 2023 ranking, the armed forces of our country surpassed the armies of the United States and China. In the published list, the US Army ranks second, the Chinese Armed Forces third. Also in the top 10 were South Korea, Israel, Ukraine, Iran, Great Britain, Germany and Turkey. The authors of the study note that the power of the armed forces was assessed based on the responses of respondents: the compilers of the rating surveyed 17 thousand people around the world from March 17 to June 12. Questions arise: what criteria were used to compile this survey, whether a relatively massive but not expert sample can be trusted, and, finally, how “weighty” is the American publication that published the rating. Let's start with the last question. A publication with a 75-year history, US News & World Report plays on the same field as Newsweek and Time magazines, and positions itself as a serious media outlet that does not indulge in topics such as sports or gossip columns. Various kinds of surveys and ratings (the best hospitals in the USA, the best cars, etc.) are a long-standing specialty of this magazine. USN&WR rankings of colleges and universities have a significant impact on the number of applicants - something that researchers from Harvard Business School have already noticed . Every year the magazine creates a top list of “best countries”. The publication itself explains: the research is based on a model developed by analyst David Reibstein from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, together with US News & World Report. “Best countries”, which are ranked according to several subcategories, including a global indicator - “strength”. The final score is based on an "equally weighted average score" on five values that indicate a country's "strength" - namely, the influence of a state's leader, economic influence, political influence, military strength and the country's participation in international alliances. In the 2023 study, the publication ranked the United States and China first and second in the “power” subcategory, respectively. At the same time, Russia took first place in terms of the “power of the army” indicator. Let us note once again that all US News &World reported ratings are based on opinion poll data. Respondents are asked to indicate which attributes of power they associate with a particular state. This approach raises a number of questions for the compilers of the rating, since they do not refer to statistical data, research results or expert opinions, military expert Alexander Mikhailovsky told IA Regnum . However, on the other hand, any system of ranking states has its drawbacks. “If we take it as a whole, then military power ratings are like “if a whale meets an elephant, then who will defeat whom?” There are too many factors that cannot be algorithmized . If such a rating had existed in 1939, Germany would definitely have been ranked below France, and perhaps Poland too. So here you need to be skeptical, of course,” says Mikhailovsky. HOW OTHER “TOPS” ARE COMPILED There are several rankings of countries in the world based on military power, which are based on various indicators. A number of American media, such as Business Insider, Forbes or Newsweek, refer to a ranking of countries by firepower, known as Global Firepower or GFP. The ranking was compiled by American researcher Daniel Puchek based on a formula that takes into account: the amount of military equipment and troops each country has, as well as the financial situation of the countries, geographical factors and available resources. Information about which, we note, may be inaccurate. The rating also does not take into account the presence of a nuclear arsenal. It is assumed (the authors themselves do not disclose the calculation methods) that more than 60 factors are used to calculate the Power Index, with stronger armies being closer to zero. For example, the US rating at the end of 2022 was 0.0712, and the Russian rating was 0.0714. The top 10 GFP rankings for 2023 include the United States, Russia, China, India, Great Britain, South Korea, Pakistan, Japan, France and Italy. The authors of the study noted, first of all, the number of military aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces and the presence of missile weapons, including hypersonic ones. At the same time, the researchers emphasized that in 2024 China could move Russia to third place. There are other, more narrowly focused ratings. Thus, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) keeps statistics on the number of nuclear warheads in the arsenal of the “nuclear club” countries. There are also statistics on the number of tanks, warships, aircraft, artillery systems and other weapons. But all these studies are based on incomplete or outdated data. “If we take the rating by the number of tanks, for example, then either we or the United States are always in the lead. But it’s unclear what data they operate with,” says Mikhailovsky. You can, say, take approximate indicators of what is in warehouses, but these may be outdated machines or no longer suitable, the expert notes. The situation with aircraft-ships is different, “but again, any official military statistics are misleading the enemy.” Drawing conclusions based on it is reckless, the interlocutor explains. One of the most authoritative rankings in the scientific community is compiled by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Researchers keep statistics on military expenditures of states in both absolute and relative (percentage of state GDP) values. The institute also annually publishes an analytical study of the global arms market, including statistics on the largest arms exporters and importers and arms production statistics. This work is primarily based on three comprehensive open access databases: Arms Transfer Data, Arms Industry Data, and Military Expenditure Database. The authors of the latest SIPRI report, published in March 2023, noted that Russia and the United States remain the leading powers in the global arms market. At the same time, the researchers noted that the United States is increasingly breaking away from Russia, while the gap between Russia and France, which ranks third in arms exports, is narrowing. “THE CONCEPTS OF “RUSSIA” AND “MILITARY POWER” ARE CONNECTED” Why did US News &World reported place Russia, and not the United States, in first place in terms of military power? The answer lies in the methodology used by the publication when compiling its ratings, says Alexander Mikhailovsky. “The point here is that over the past year our country in the mass consciousness has become associated with military power. As an example, the use of the latest weapons, including hypersonic ones, in the Northern Military District. Of course, this is on everyone’s lips, which is why respondents associate the concepts of “military power” and “Russia,” the expert believes. The specialist also noted that the rating took into account the point of view of residents of the Arab world, Africa, Asia and South America. Many countries have a positive attitude towards Russia's actions on the world stage. This is evidenced, in particular, by calls from citizens of states such as Niger or Mali to Russia asking for help in the confrontation with France and the United States. The countries of the Arab world refuse to condemn Russia's actions on international platforms, thereby opposing the position of the West. Therefore, changes in the American rating primarily indicate not a sharp change in the balance of power in favor of Russia, but rather a global change in point of view. After the collapse of the USSR, the US Army for 20 years in the public consciousness (not without the influence of cinema and the media) was perceived as the strongest army in the world, but today this point of view has changed. And in this sense, we can say that the United States is beginning to lose ground, first of all, in the minds of people, experts believe. | |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #3 Well, the source checks out (trust but verify, right Vasily?). The methodology of the ranking, well that's another thing. |
| Posted by: Raj 2023-11-01 01:46 |
| #2 The key word here is "was". Most of their best solders are now dead... |
| Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2023-11-01 01:24 |
| #1 *SNORT* I wouldn't brag about that rag naming me anything. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2023-11-01 00:08 |