Inside the Aquarium, by Viktor Suvorov, is a spy novel that tells the story of his personal rise and fall of being a GRU officer during the Cold War. Even though this novel is classified as a biography, not all of it should be assumed as true. Through analyzing how Suvorov portrays the adversaries, the allies, and the tradecraft in the novel, a deduction can be drawn to if this novel is a credible source of information. The first area to analyze to determine the credibility of Inside the Aquarium is how Viktor Suvorov portrays the adversaries through their militaries, societies, and intelligence organizations. The primary adversaries to the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War were the United States of America and Great Britain, in addition, Austria
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With exception of the ‘Sputnik Crisis’, termed coined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the first space station, America had a farther advanced technology program due to the open society. This wave of technology greatly affected the way the U.S. military and intelligence organizations such as the CIA and FBI were able to operate and collect intelligence in the field. The final way to test the credibility of Suvorov’s view on the adversaries is by taking a look at how he portrays the societies. Suvorov does not give much of an opinion directly concerning the American society, but it can be implied that he views it similar to the way he views their military. The U.S. society is very technologically advanced due to the ‘open society’ it practices, …show more content…
He portrays the Soviet military as a strong fighting force, yet has flaws. While serving as a commander of a tank company, Suvorov brags about the greatness of his men in the company (Suvorov, 11). Also while serving in the Spetnaz, he talks about how elite the members of the unit are individually (ibid, Ch. 4). On the contrary, Suvorov has no patience for incompetent authority. The first case is in the training exercise, Suvorov commanded his tank company through a stone wall and was chewed out by a rather “idiot” observing colonel (ibid, 14). This can be seen again when he confronted an “soft” adjutant and threatened him forces passive-egressive comments (ibid, 28). The distaste for authority is partially human nature, but the incompetent authority is due partial to the Soviet government. Purges in the Soviet army occurred quite frequently eliminating generals who maybe a threat to the U.S.S.R., but in turn removing some very experienced leaders (ibid, 103 & 240). The need for leadership in the army resulted in quick or early promotions to position which the man was not ready for. These inexperienced leaders caused the army to have some difficulties functioning
With exception of the ‘Sputnik Crisis’, termed coined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the first space station, America had a farther advanced technology program due to the open society. This wave of technology greatly affected the way the U.S. military and intelligence organizations such as the CIA and FBI were able to operate and collect intelligence in the field. The final way to test the credibility of Suvorov’s view on the adversaries is by taking a look at how he portrays the societies. Suvorov does not give much of an opinion directly concerning the American society, but it can be implied that he views it similar to the way he views their military. The U.S. society is very technologically advanced due to the ‘open society’ it practices, …show more content…
He portrays the Soviet military as a strong fighting force, yet has flaws. While serving as a commander of a tank company, Suvorov brags about the greatness of his men in the company (Suvorov, 11). Also while serving in the Spetnaz, he talks about how elite the members of the unit are individually (ibid, Ch. 4). On the contrary, Suvorov has no patience for incompetent authority. The first case is in the training exercise, Suvorov commanded his tank company through a stone wall and was chewed out by a rather “idiot” observing colonel (ibid, 14). This can be seen again when he confronted an “soft” adjutant and threatened him forces passive-egressive comments (ibid, 28). The distaste for authority is partially human nature, but the incompetent authority is due partial to the Soviet government. Purges in the Soviet army occurred quite frequently eliminating generals who maybe a threat to the U.S.S.R., but in turn removing some very experienced leaders (ibid, 103 & 240). The need for leadership in the army resulted in quick or early promotions to position which the man was not ready for. These inexperienced leaders caused the army to have some difficulties functioning