This paper analyzes Russian expert networks dealing with foreign and security policy issues. It argues that they are significantly shaping policy discourse and perform important legitimizing and, at times, direct advisory functions in the policy process. In order to conceptualize the complex interactions between political power and knowledge producers, I draw on the theory of social fields as developed by Pierre Bourdieu. Taking the ‘Russian arms control community’ as an empirical example, I argue that the ‘field of expertise’ is analyzed best as an interpersonal network that is located between politics, academia, journalism and the military. The analysis suggests that the role of (external) advice is largely issue-dependent and varies according to the perceived levels of policy (tactical, operational, strategic) and ambiguity (technical, political).
