Is NATO doctrine—as an outcome of a process of military reform and transformation—sufficient to defeat the conventional forces the size of the Russian Federation’s, or is Russian doctrine more apt at being a better deterrent? This is the general question Frederic Labarre seeks to answer. More particularly, he investigates the causes of the poor performance of the Georgian Armed Forces during the Battle of Tskhinvali as a test case for NATO doctrine vs. Russian/proto-Soviet doctrine of the application of force. This book presents the only complete and detailed analysis of the Battle of Tskhinvali and traces the history of defense reform in Georgia since re-independence to account for the performance of the armed forces in securing Georgia’s sovereignty.Based on eye-witness accounts and field research, the consultation of official documentation, and media reports from the period, it brings into question the validity of the process of defense reform under NATO guidance and serves as a case study to apply against future conflicts the Alliance may yet have to face—as well as Ukraine.



This timely volume examines whether NATO doctrine can counter large conventional forces like Russia’s, using the 2008 Battle of Tskhinvali as a test case. Frederic Labarre analyzes Georgia’s defense reforms, revealing key flaws in NATO-guided strategies through field research and eyewitness accounts.



Dr Frederic Labarre studied War Studies in Kingston, Ontario. Since 2019 he is lecturer in political science and economics at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. In 2024–2025, he taught Russian politics at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM). Previously, Labarre was NATO Defence Education Enhancement Programme manager at the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Labarre is an Honorary Ancien of the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy. His previous books include Understanding the Contemporary Information Landscape, LandesverteidigungsAkademie Vienna, 2022, and Theoretical and Technical Perspectives on Security Sector Governance from the Adriatic to the Caspian Sea, IOS Press, 2012. His papers have been published by, among other outlets, Diplomatie, Baltic Security and Defence Review, Ashgate Publishing, Routledge, and Frank-Cass.