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This paper examines the role of strategic communication in military operations, with a focus on its impact during the first year of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Using a process-tracing methodology, the study explores whether Ukrainian strategic communication was decisive in resisting Russian attacks. Our findings indicate that strategic communication functioned as a central component of Ukraine’s defence. Effective messaging mobilized broad support from diverse actors, including state entities with no regional stakes and non-state contributors such as civilians, volunteer fighters, and organizations, driven by motivations beyond self-interest. Ukraine’s resilience stemmed not from a deceptive Russian strategy (i.e., a lack of genuine intent to engage in a full-scale war), but from its bold counter-offensive, bolstered by international aid - support amplified and sustained by the strategic communication efforts that shaped global perceptions and secured critical assistance.

The US military presence in Afghanistan has been the subject of retrospective analyzes that facilitated the identification and learning of important lessons for future military actions. This article analyses, through the case study method, the way defense resources were managed from a sustainable development perspective, focusing on the durable effects of the main projects aimed at ensuring this country's initial steps towards a sustainable development destination. As a result, this study points to the positive potential that the military instrument could have in a country's efforts to achieve sustainable development goals, highlighting the way that unsustainable management practices can compromise or even nullify the progress in this area. Consequently, the main product of this research is a model of unsustainable use of defense resources that decision makers should know and avoid in the future, to obtain long-term beneficial results.

This article presents a formal economic framework for assessing the sustainability of prolonged attritional warfare. Using the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as a case study, the paper models the interaction between military production and consumption (losses) to evaluate the limits of state endurance under sustained conflict. The core of the analysis is a differential function of the war economy, defined as the net capacity to sustain operations over time, which is the difference between production and losses. This function is embedded within a theoretical construct that distinguishes between sustainable and unsustainable operational regimes, marked by critical thresholds of system exhaustion. Through a combination of regression analysis and symbolic modelling, the paper demonstrates how Russia’s current attritional strategy may be approaching a structural breaking point. The findings offer a conceptual and empirical basis for evaluating wartime industrial resilience and may inform strategic policy and conflict forecasting.

Accurate meteorological data is crucial for precise artillery fire, yet its availability can be compromised in combat conditions. This study investigates the impact of limited meteorological information on artillery accuracy and explores potential mitigation strategies. By analysing upperair data from a single weather station, we simulated various scenarios of reduced meteorological support. Our findings highlight the significance of meteorological factors on artillery performance and the potential consequences of inadequate data. We developed a foundational framework for offline artillery support products, emphasizing the need for robust methods to estimate atmospheric conditions in data-scarce environments. Future research will focus on incorporating advanced modelling techniques and additional data sources to enhance the accuracy and applicability of these products.

The study focuses on the methodologies and strategic implications of restoring industrial complexes in post-conflict environments. Drawing on empirical evidence from the war in Eastern Europe, it links NATO engineering doctrine with approaches to damage assessment and stability classification. It proposes damage categorisation and prioritisation of reconstruction based on structural degradation and external system dependencies. Key strategies include mobile engineering teams, improvised materials, and limited documentation. The study also highlights the need to protect sensitive information generated during recovery. A combined approach ensures efficient reconstruction and national defence resilience.

This study aimed to explore the media’s perception of the military and militant activities, focusing on journalists’ professional conduct and their commitment to the national cause. In-depth interviews were conducted with Pakistani journalists reporting from conflict zones. The findings suggest that Pakistan is engaged in a war on terror and that the media plays a key role in glorifying the security forces in their fight against militants who challenge the authority of the state. Journalists expressed the view that the government and military should take realistic measures to combat this threat. While journalists described militants as terrorists, they also noted that their professionalism is often influenced by patriotism and a national duty to serve the country. However, objectivity remained a key element of their reporting. The media, considered the fourth pillar of the state, should have the necessary freedom to report on conflicts. At the same time, self-censorship was considered necessary to prevent content that could lead to radicalization.

This article presents the first systematic analysis of cognitive resilience education within the Czech Ministry of Defence, which is growing in importance in the context of contemporary hybrid threats. Through methodological triangulation (document analysis, questionnaires, interviews), the research maps the coverage of relevant topics across all levels of formal military education. The SWOT analysis reveals both existing foundations for cognitive resilience development and the absence of a systematic approach to this issue. The results highlight three main challenges for transforming the educational system: systematisation of the approach, personnel resources, and infrastructure modernisation. The study establishes an empirical basis for strategic recommendations to strengthen military personnel resilience against information and psychological operations.

The article is a thematic sequel of a previous work addressing the concept of Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) in the context of modern warfare. It highlights the differences in the conceptual approaches to MDO as applied by the U.S. Armed Forces and NATO in response to current security challenges. The study outlines the shift by NATO and the U.S. from traditional joint operations to integrated strategies within respective operational domains. Based on a literature review and content analysis of doctrinal documents, it identifies a fundamental difference in the conceptual approaches of NATO and the U.S. to MDO. While the U.S. approach emphasizes a military-oriented model that generates synergistic effects through coordinated operations and technologically driven dominance, NATO’s framework favours a comprehensive civil-military model of strategic integration.

This study explores the main challenges faced by leaders within the multinational military operations process. Based on the aspects addressed in the literature review, the questionnaire survey method will be applied to a representative sample of military personnel who had participated in various multinational activities, as tactical leaders. The findings reveal that the most significant challenges perceived by leaders include linguistic barriers, command and control (C2) issues, and differences in training, endowment, and doctrine, with planning identified as the most challenging operational phase. Statistical analysis further indicates that experienced leaders perceive these challenges more acutely, and the study outlines key solutions proposed by respondents, such as developing language skills, enhancing interoperability, and fostering adaptability as essential traits for overcoming difficulties in multinational  military operations.

The article analyzes loitering munition as a distinct category separate from traditional UAVs and examines its role in recent armed conflicts. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative analysis, it finds that these systems have become a persistent feature of modern warfare, which is also reflected in the rapid expansion of acquisition efforts within NATO countries after years of stagnation. Building on these findings, the article introduces four functional criteria defining loitering munition and provides a targeted DOTMLPFI mapping that outlines the key requirements and indicative metrics needed to achieve full operational capability. The study shows that progress across all DOTMLPFI domains is essential for effective and sustainable integration, particularly in smaller armed forces.

This study deconstructs the concept of active measures through the prism of information influence. It understands it as sophisticated methods of influencing public opinion and political decisions, originally used by the Soviet Union and now adapted to cyberspace by the Russian Federation. In the analysis, the concept is contrasted with the general abstraction of information influence. This helps to better understand the proximity of active measures to similar concepts. We conclude that abstractions of information influence are also valid for conceptual understanding and practical examples of contemporary Russian active measures. Active measures are subsidiary to information influence, serving as tactical means to achieve the latter's strategic goals. Furthermore, the author states that the information environment is the operational theatre for active operations, cyber operations can be its manifestation, information operations support as a key component of a broader information operations strategy, and psychological operations are its critical element.

The article deals with Turkey's trust in the USA as its most important ally in NATO. Semi-structured interviews with Turkish academics and international relations experts during field research identified three main areas of Turkish mistrust in the USA - the Cyprus question, USA support for the PYD/YPG in Syria, and USA intervention in Turkish politics. The research results presented in the causal network show that the main cause of Turkish mistrust towards the USA is the factors leading to the phenomenon of fear of abandonment. That causes Turkey's increased need for independence from strategic partners and the subsequent increase in the application of a balance policy. The study concludes that one of the main reasons for Turkey's current attitude towards NATO is the need to ensure its security, and this need stems from Turkey's mistrust of the USA.

The purpose of this paper is to present some particularities of mission command during the conflict in Ukraine. Intended as a  framework of analysis, it describes the ways in which the involved parties manage warfighting from the perspective of practicing mission command as a method to enhance military effectiveness. Using qualitative methods, combining literature review, critical analysis of relevant resources, comparative analysis and indirect observation, the findings are related to aspects of mission command that are critical for enhancing operational and decision-making resilience, through identifying and examining various situations involving Ukrainian and Russian military forces. At the same time, the results of the study highlight some potential ways of innovating the principle

The article is based on a study carried out as part of the Long-Term Organizational Development Plan project by the Center for Security and Military-Strategic Studies of the University of Defense entitled "Armed Conflict". As part of the study, the issue of strategic surprise was analyzed and assessed, the aim of which was to find causal mechanisms and connections between the security of state defense and the phenomenon of surprise in the conditions of the 21st century. The article deals with the issue of surprise and its impact on state defense security. It describes strategic surprise as a principled aspect with implications and impacts on state defense. It examines the issue of surprise as a principle of military art in the context of contemporary strategic thinking.

This study provides a summary overview of the creation and the activities of the international security architecture in the form of their two main pillars, i.e. the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the Near and Middle East region. Within the framework of international security relations, this is a very unstable and conflictual region, where this instability has lasted practically since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The global UN, its overall activity and importance, especially humanitarian and peace-building activities not only for the Near and Middle East region, is very beneficial, through out the Cold War period up to the present day. As a security organization, NATO is among the most important global actors influencing current international security relations. Through their activities, both of these organizations represent a essential means of ensuring world peace and security.

This study presents the perspective of Czechoslovak diplomacy on the events of the Yom Kippur War (1973) in the context Czechoslovak foreign policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict in early 1970s. The research is based on so far rather underexplored archival sources. Despite Czechoslovakia's declared unequivocal support for the Arab side of the conflict, Czechoslovak Middle Eastern policy since the mid-1950s was not entirely unconditional in relation to the Arab countries. Internal documents of Czechoslovak government occasionally revealed criticisms of Arab representatives. The Yom Kippur War represented a significant moment in this regard, as it was a military confrontation initiated not by Israel but by the Arab coalition, posing a challenge for Czechoslovak propaganda. Simultaneously, this armed conflict presented an opportunity for Communist Czechoslovakia to further deepen its relations with its Arab allies.

Based on the content analysis method, this study analyzes the first ever published security strategy of the Israel Defense Forces, which was published in 2015. The main objective of the paper is not only to present the circumstances of its creation and discuss the main objectives of this strategic security document, but also to outline the broader geopolitical context from which it emerged. The authors argue that the document primarily emphasized two areas - the use of force and capacity building of the Israeli military. Among other things, the publication of the strategy was intended to have a deterrent effect. In the conclusion, the authors compare the Gideon Plan and its follow-up, the Tnufa Plan, and point to the considerable importance that consensus among political and military elites has in the implementation of such a document and reflect on what lessons and inspiration can be drawn from this case in our geographic space in the process of formulating or reformulating strategic security documents.

The paper evaluates the level of cooperation between the Ministry of Defence and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) in the field of procurement of military equipment. In the practical part, the results of the research on the level of participation of Czech-based suppliers in NSPA activities between 2018 and 2022 are presented. Pareto analysis comparing the participation of the Czech and international companies in contracts implemented by NSPA in terms of their subject, quantity and financial value is used. Qualitative case studies from three different areas illustrate in which NSPA projects the Czech Republic has already been involved in and which benefits and risks are associated with this cooperation for the MoD. Positives and drawbacks in the process of acquiring military equipment in-house and opportunities and threats that may arise from the acquisition of military equipment through the NSPA are summarised in the form of the SWOT analysis. Finally, recommendations are presented on how to improve the cooperation between the MoD and the NSPA in the field of acquisition.

This study analyzes the involvement of external actors in Ethiopia's civil war between 2020 and 2022, categorizing their behaviors and discourses based on the dominance of instrumental and affective motives. It argues that the convergence of objectives between instrumental motive-dominant actors, who seek to protect the stability and survival of the Ethiopian government, and affective motive-dominant actors, who address humanitarian crises, reached a point of overlap and consent which led the war to end in relatively short duration.

The article examines the impact of recent geopolitical, economic, and security changes on logistics support capabilities in EU and NATO member states. The study analyzes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the armed conflict in Ukraine on logistics supply chains, considering environmental, social, and security concerns. The research questions focus on identifying the main changes and assessing their implications for commercial, military, and humanitarian logistics. The prolongation of the conflict in Ukraine and the economic sanctions imposed on Russia have been found to have a significant impact on logistics capabilities, perceptions of the structure of supply chains and the risks arising from this. The impact of these events is also producing third-country poverty and dehumanizing the UN SDG goals. On the other hand, improvements in NATO troop readiness and weaponry have been noted. The study highlights the need for further research to investigate specific threats for different types of supply chains and to consider the complex and evolving nature of the issue. Ultimately, this research provides insights into the challenges and opportunities facing logistics capabilities in the context of ongoing geopolitical and environmental changes.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to scientific research in the field of examining the shortcomings in the use of strategic communication for armaments. A comprehensive approach that rationalises the political, military, economic and technical decision-making process, as well as appropriate strategic communication with stakeholders, is required for the procurement of military equipment for the armed forces. The paper first analyses the existing shortcomings in the use of strategic communication in support of armaments, and then recommends a model for the adequate use of it. The results of a questionnaire survey and structured interviews with specialists in strategic communication and armaments show a high level of support for the use of strategic communication. However, the selected case studies on the Pandur and BVP modernization projects did not confirm the assumption of an improvement in the ability of the Czech Ministry of Defence to acquire new military equipment.

The article deals with the issue of identifying required material reserves, also referred to as strategic or emergency reserves. These reserves are managed by state authority as part of national crisis preparedness. The article explores how scenarios can be used as a method for planning, i.e. determining adequate, realistic, and affordable material reserves. A scenario-based analysis, well proven in the defence planning domain, is identified as a method offering a high degree of analytical rigor and traceability of resulting requirements. Selected planning scenarios clearly must reflect national threat/hazard and risk assessments. They also have to reflect other important national policies, such as those governing economy, industry, health care, or environment. The illustrative conduct of the initial steps of the proposed method is demonstrated using Latvia's security policy circumstances.

The assessment of force ratios and battle casualties is a crucial aspect of the military decision-making process. This article evaluates three different tools used by the Army of the Czech Republic at the tactical level: a calculator based on Lanchester's laws, a module within the Battle Information System, and a constructive simulation system. The results indicate that while all tools produce similar outputs, the constructive simulation system offers more accurate estimates of combat losses for both equipment and personnel. Additionally, this system enhances the ability of commanders and staff to adapt to changing scenarios during planning. The primary conclusion is that the constructive simulation system provides a practical and flexible solution for supporting the military decision-making process at the brigade and battalion levels.

The effective leadership and the effectiveness of a leader reflect, as the strongest factor, the degree of his transformational approach, which influences the objectively measured performance of the led group. The main goal of the pilot research study was to identify personality and psychophysiological factors that could be monitored in the prevention and elimination of undesirable forms of impulsive behavior in the context of solving difficult situations in real conditions for professional leadership students according to the Big Five theory. The chosen research design made it possible to effectively combine the advantages of a behavioral and personalized approach to the study of impulsivity. The results of the study carried out on the final sample of subjects N=63, aged 21 to 26 years (r=21.7 years; 34.9% women and 65.1% men) are currently being processed. However, it can already be stated that the degree of impulsivity in military leadership students is related to the level of conscientiousness.

This review article focuses on Jewish insurgency under the British mandate for Palestine from 1939 to 1948. The Jewish guerrilla campaign represents a successful case study in the field of the research on small wars and insurgency, proxy wars. The authors analyze the early phase of the British Mandate in 1918-1939, referred to as the prelude to the subsequent Jewish uprising; a period when Jewish paramilitary groups including the Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi emerged and developed, emphasizing their ideological underpinnings, operational and tactical strategies of warfare, and the material capacities that these organizations possessed. The authors primarily emphasize the period from the initiation of the White Paper in 1939 until the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948. British restrictions on Jewish immigration and the beginning of the Second World War stimulated the Jewish forces to a massive terrorist campaign against the British resulting in an unprecedented Zionist victory.

The article brings a comparison of the approaches to the strategic defence analysis (SDA) and developing future Defence Concepts (DFDC) of the Czech Republic and Norway. The countries are in a different geopolitical situation, NOR being a country with borders that are part of the outer border of the Alliance, the Czech Republic being a country surrounded by three member countries of the Alliance and one PfP country. On the basis of the comparison of the two approaches, the authors identified differences and common points of the two. Based on the findings, the discussion provides inspiration for possible enhancements in the approach of the Czech Republic to SDA to ensure the future defence of the country. All that in context of current Security developments in Europe, that have an impact on how NATO member countries might deal with Article 3 and Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.

The article focuses on the concept of crowdsourcing in the social networking environment as a new phenomenon involving civilians in the intelligence process, enabling the use of their intelligence potential during armed conflict. Crowdsourcing of the civilian population is introduced by the example of NATO intervention during the first civil war in Libya. The article presents its use during the intelligence process at the strategic-operational level of command and control of the armed forces. It establishes its possible definition as a collection method of the intelligence process, and as a collection method which is disjunctively separable from similar intelligence collection methods.

Biosafety and biodefense (i.e. all countermeasures preventing the spread of biological agents in the environment and population) are on the regular agenda of states and their militaries. Somewhat aside are global catastrophic biological risks (GCBR), which can destroy human society as a biological species. Although a precise definition of what constitutes a global catastrophic biological risk is still being sought, it can be considered the impact of potential global catastrophic risks (GCR) on the social, economic and biological structure of human existence. This implies that GCBRs are a subset of GCRs. It is also open to discussion whether in the case of GCBRs the risk must necessarily be biological agents, from viruses to humans, or whether anthropogenic threats can also be accepted as risk factors, or what the impact must be for a risk to be included under the designation GCBR.

Defence strategies of smaller NATO states represent interesting source of information about defence policies of this pool of countries. Definition of what constitutes "small state" is discussed in first step. In second step, this study compares 10 selected NATO countries Defence Strategies in terms of identified risks and threats, future military capabilities to counter threats, processes of drafting defence papers, level of details and approving authorities. Outlining these indicators and characteristics provide useful overview for future draft of National defence strategies within countries of similar size.

The preparation of soldiers for future employment in the civilian labor market is a critical issue that requires attention. This research aimed to identify soldiers' preferences regarding their transition to civilian employment after their military service. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 128 active-duty soldiers from two units of the Czech Armed Forces. The majority of respondents prefer a second career in the private sector, and most would like to start preparing several months before their service ends. Many respondents expressed interest in expanding their skills to improve employability, with retraining courses being the most preferred option. Overall, interest in the offered support tools for career transition was significant, with the job portal being the most favored. Many respondents believe soldiers face difficulties in securing civilian employment after their service and assess the current system for preparing soldiers for a second career as underdeveloped.