CAST was founded in the summer of 1997 by
Ruslan Pukhov and Konstantin Makienko. Pukhov and Makienko both attended the Franco-Russian dual-degree program between
Master d'Etudes Internationales Sciences Po and
MGIMO in Paris where Makienko interned at the French defense industry, Centre for Study of Strategies and Technologies (CREST), which is now the
Foundation for Strategic Research. After returning to Russia and initially working as researchers at the Center for Policy Studies in Russia (PIR Center), Pukhov and Makienko decided to establish CAST with
CREST as their inspiration. CAST employs approximately ten full-time researchers with many additional analysts working part-time. The centre's researchers collaborate on an ad hoc basis with leading Russian experts, journalists, defense specialists and civil servants working on similar issues. Pukhov serves as the director, Makienko as the deputy director, and Maksim Shepovalenko, a retired career Russian naval officer, also as deputy director. In addition to his work at CAST, Pukhov is member of the Public Council of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the former executive director of the Russian Armorers Union. Since 2008, Makienko has served as a member of the expert council under the Russian Duma defense committee. Up until 2018, CAST also published the English language
Moscow Defense Brief (MDB), which was aimed to provide an analysis of trends in Russian defense policy and industry for English speakers. CAST maintains an electronic archive of all previously published
Moscow Defense Brief on its website. CAST has published a variety of books on defense topics in Russian and English. These books provide a Russian perspective on defense issues and developments. In 2008, CAST released the Russian language book
Military-Technical Cooperation between Russia and Foreign Countries: A Market Analysis, which gave a detailed analysis of the global arms market and Russia's position within it. CAST published an account of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia in
The Tanks of August. Their next book ''Russia's New Army'', which was published in both Russian and English, detailed the reforms undertaken by Russia Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov. CAST's next two books, both in Russian,
Alien War and
World of Khaki: Armed Forces in the System of State Power, analyzed armed conflicts since 1991 and the role of the military in the political affairs of a number of countries, including Pakistan, Turkey, and Algeria, respectively. The last two Russian language books from CAST were
The Defense Industry and Arms Trade of China and
Radio-electronic Warfare: From Experiments of the past to the Future Decisive Front. On December 21, 2016, CAST published the Russian-language book
The Defense Industry and Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign States of India. In
2017 the Centre published
Turkish Military Machine: Strengths and Weaknesses. The book examines the Turkish defense industry, the defense budget, the Turkish officer class as a social institution, and its recent military history. CAST has also recently published two books, one in Russian and the other in English, on international Special Operations Forces. The first,
Between War and Peace: Special Operations Forces is in Russian, and it provides a description of the Special Operations Forces of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Israel, Iran, China, and Colombia. It features a foreword from the Director of "Helicopters of Russia", and it is edited by Mikhail Barabanov. The second book is called
Elite Warriors: Special Operations Forces From Around the World. Edited by Ruslan Pukhov, director of CAST, and Dr. Christopher Marsh, professor of National Security and Strategic Studies at the US Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,
Elite Warriors is in English and it covers the special operations forces of Algeria, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, and Ukraine. In 2018 the books
Thunder Sky: Aviation in Modern Conflicts (edited by former Commander of the
Russian Aerospace Forces Viktor Bondarev) and
Waiting for the Storm: South Caucasus were published. CAST's latest book is
Global Arms Market: Structure, Tendencies, Challenges, it was published with support of
Rosoboronexport.
Ogarkov Readings In October 2018 CAST organized the Ogarkov Readings. The conference is dedicated to the memory of Marshal of the Soviet Union
Nikolay Ogarkov – a Russian military thinker of the second half of the 20th century who anticipated the
Revolution in Military Affairs. The Conference is held on a yearly basis. Participants discuss the development of military technologies and their impact on modern conflicts. The event is attended by prominent representatives of the armed forces and defense industry.
History The organization was founded in June 1997 by graduates of
Moscow State Institute of International Relations CAST is not financed by the government. It gets all of its income from selling research and media products, consultation services, and other projects. == See also ==