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The career education of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) personnel is a key component to meet requirements for qualifications. As these requirements are career growth conditions for career personnel, they are inherently connected with further promotion in rank. During the process of preparation of the career courses it was revealed that some system changes should be made due to implemented or planned changes within the legislative and source framework of the Ministry of Defence. This article describes the implementation process of a new policy for training personnel in the career courses. It was prepared by a project team headed by the Centre for Security and Military Strategic Studies at the Defence University. Furthermore, the article deals with the clarification of the approach to the development of educational documentation and the chosen form of organization and conduction of military career courses. Also, a quality control system and a collection of information needed for upgrading of the senior officers career education curricula are described.

This essay is focused upon the concept of Perpetual Peace (1795) by the German Philosopher Immanuel Kant. To reach this goal, he advocated the establishment of a word federation of republican states. But some key prerequisites (s.c. preliminary and definitive articles) must be completed. The authoress compares the Kant's concepts with the ideas of solidarity by the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka. The readers themselves must pass the judgement whether Kant's prerequisites of eternal peace-even for more then two centuries-are fulfilled, or not. This subject matter belongs to a relatively young field of study dealing with war and peace, the so-called paxology, the theory how peace can be maintained in the world.

This essay is focused upon the concept of Perpetual Peace (1795) by the German Philosopher Immanuel Kant. To reach this goal, he advocated the establishment of a word federation of republican states. But some key prerequisites (s.c. preliminary and definitive articles) must be completed. The authoress compares the Kant's concepts with the ideas of solidarity by the Czech philosopher Jan Patočka. The readers themselves must pass the judgement whether Kant's prerequisites of eternal peace-even for more then two centuries-are fulfilled, or not. This subject matter belongs to a relatively young field of study dealing with war and peace, the so-called paxology, the theory how peace can be maintained in the world.

The article deals with the issue of creation and realization of space policy. Space programs of individual states are closely connected to decision-making processes of the (general) state (public) policy. Therefore we can raise a question which factors influence these processes and the formulation of space policy and also if they are so unique that could be related only to one particular state. The aim of this article is to focus on one of the factors influencing space policy-strategic culture. Its influence is analysed through case studies of seven nations. Each case study is divided into two parts. First, we identify relevant characteristics of the state's strategic culture. Then, we analyse whether and how the identified characteristics of the respective strategic culture influence the space policy of a state in question. This article seeks to contribute to the growing debate about space as "the next" strategic area and highlights rather overlooked reasons of space exploration.

The Russian armed forces are influenced by a new concept of possible armed conflict. At present, Russian forces are not preparing themselves to one massive conflict, as in the period of bi-polar world, but the main stress is put on power-projection, into the spheres of Russian interests, i. e. into post-soviet republics. The Russian armed forces ought to be able partake in three regional conflicts simultaneously. That's why organizational and technological changes are presently in motion. The acquisition of French first Mistral-class vessels is an organic part of this process. The theme is particularly topical in the context of the current Ukrainian crisis.

The Czechoslovak Legion was a revolutionary armed force formed abroad that had come into being during World War I. It is said that without this force, there would be no independent Czechoslovakia. Without a foreign political, diplomatic and military resistance of the Czechoslovak National Council, headed by Prof. Dr. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Doc. Dr. Edvard Beneš, and Brig. Gen. Milan Rastislav Štefánik, there would be no Czechoslovak Legion. Even in the hard times, the large majority of legionnaires were always true to the Czech and the Slovak nation during World War II, and after the war. But after the February 1948, those nations, officially represented by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, were not true to them.

Respecting rules of international laws is indispensable to guarantee a peace balance among forces of all states. It ought to be in their own interest. By and large, the flagrant breaking of those rules and acts of aggression correspond directly to the military power of individual states. Examples are abundant. This essay deals with the definition of aggression that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 14, 1974.

Příspěvek se zabývá vybranými bezpečnostními aspekty námořních hraničních linií Státu Izrael. V krátkosti vymezuje současnou organizaci izraelského válečného námořnictva a jeho vybavení pro zabezpečování izraelské svrchovanosti proti hrozbám přicházejícím z moře, včetně zadržovacích operací vedoucích k zabránění šíření zbraní do rukou protiizraelských teroristických organizací. V souvislosti s izraelskou námořní blokádou pásma Gazy je komentována legitimita takového kroku a mezinárodněpolitické konsekvence jejího vynucování. Ekonomické souvislosti přetrvávajících problémů stran izraelské námořní hranice jsou evidentní na příkladu sporu o právo k využití podmořských nalezišť plynu.

The article deals with some aspects of applied theory of operational art within the operations planning process. It discusses the area of operational design concepts and suggests possible ways of this theory application in the process of operational approach development. The described theory is a sequel to the article published in this Military Review No. 1/2014.

The article identifies specific attributes which have influenced success of modern warfare conducted by infantry battalions and their sub-units. There are mentioned ways to suppress the negatives and opportunities to use positives. There is drafted a possible task organization structure of battalion which allows the variability, modularity and combat readiness, according to capabilities and statements catalogue. The author was inspired by his own experiences as an infantry unit commander. He uses his knowledge gained from military assignments. The article could be considered as topic for future discussions not only on academic but also on specialized level.

Career education of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) personnel is a key component to meet requirements for qualifications. As these requirements are career growth conditions for career personnel, they are inherently connected with further promotion in rank. The MoD Concept of Personnel Development for 2012-2018 sets the direction of the educational development to achieve these qualification requirements. During the process of preparation of the career courses it was revealed that some system changes should be made due to implemented or planned changes within the legislative and source framework of the Ministry of Defence.This article describes the proposal of a new concept for training of personnel in the career courses. It was prepared by a project team headed by the Centre for Security and Military Strategic Studies at the Defence University. The article also shows the development of the situation since 2004, when the professionalization of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic occurred.

The life and work of General Dr. Milan Rastislav Štefánik is without doubts the life and work of one of the three leading crisis managers of extraordinary skills operating in an enviroment of first escalating global crisis of the 20th century. The phenomenal result of their activivities was the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic. The author concludes that Štefánik´s work is timeless, from which we ought to draw a continual inspiration.

Article analyses the relation between legal and internal regulations and other management acts in public administration, focusing on their own hierarchy, quantity, liability in specific areas of Czech armed forces. The first part was published in Military Review No. 4/2013; this following section focuses on the creation of internal management acts and their releasing for the recipients. The article also emphasizes the need for a stable organization, which is necessary for the effective implementation of personnel management, personnel control and the so-called internal and external legislations.

The article deals with aspects of operational art inside the operations planning process. It deals with the concepts of operational design and suggests a possible way of introducing such theory into the development process of operational approach. This paper is a free sequel to several articles published in Military Review on this theme. It introduces several professional terms in the field of operational art, up to now not officially established.

The article reviews contemporary traditional approaches towards the evaluation of ground military vehicles and equipment, oriented on the role and potential of top-ranking officials in this area. The author promotes the introduction of some electronic Log Book for monitoring and rating the operational data of the military equipment, with the help of new General Packet Radio Service module, to improve the effectiveness of operational system, maintenance and savings.

The aim of the article is to present an up-to-date discussion on cyberspace as a new, fifth domain of warfare. The reader is provided with the concept of cyberspace, its current interpretation, primarily in American doctrines and military theory. The army mission is contextually mentioned as well, explicitly the limits of Czech forces capacity. The paper deals with the form of cyberspace and its characteristics in the context of military operations. It advocates the idea of cyberspace as a war domain, which is presented together with the criticism to such approach. The article concludes with the summary and evaluation of both sides' arguments, taking into account the specific role and abilities of armed forces.

The paper briefly identified the long-time objectives of overall geospatial support. Based on that, ways ahead to achieve main aims are described. Special attention is paid to software platform for geospatial production, cooperation with civilian and international partners, legal aspects, R&D as well as mobile sets intended usage.

The control of emergency economic measures, namely state material reserves, is an important part of Czech security system. From the institutional point of view, all is run under the authority of a central institution-the Administration of State Material Reserves (ASMR). This paper deals with its role in the management of state material reserves, reflects problems and consequences resulting from the changes in security surrounding, re-evaluates opinions and views both by experts of state administrations and academic community. Those are the main key questions the study seeks an answer.

The article deals with some aspects of long-term planning in the sector of theMinistry of Defence. Its aim is to stimulate discussion about the methods and processes of long-term planning, to point out some shortcomings in the development of strategic documents in the past. The text also describes the basis for long-term planning process and particularly the role of long-term foresight. The author analyses lessons learned from the developing and implementation of Long-Term Vision of the Ministry of Defence document (2008) and tries to aply them in drafting a new document, The Long-Term Vision for Defence in 2030, is now being prepared under the leadership of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. He also highlights some of the theoretical principles for developing documents in the process of strategic management.

Today, the word Concept is one of most used terms in the framework of long and medium term of defence management. Concept development as a process is mentioned in significant number of departmental regulations and descriptions of activities of organizational bodies of the Ministry of Defence and General Staff. Concept development and Experimentation is a kind of incantation used when we speak about the development of long and medium term strategic documents. This article comprises the analysis of the legal regulations concerning the development of strategic documents. It analyses the implications of the governmental Methodology of mid-term concepts and Methodology of preparation of public strategies for departmental strategic documents.

The classification of a term of "decontamination" comes out not only from the Alliance norms, national military regulations and publications, but also from the documents that deal with the conception of decontamination for civilian purposes, i.e. from documents of the Fire Rescue Brigades of the Czech Republic. The study of both Alliance and national documents has proved that in many cases this term is being introduced in a different way which might cause not very homogenous interpretation and understanding to accomplished decontamination measurements and thus even overall disunity in a framework not only of Alliance, but also in selected basic and other parts of the Integrated Rescue System of the Czech Republic. The paper analyses approaches to the term of "decontamination"practically only by means of definitions in use nowadays. At the end of this document there are recommendations which ought be considered by the management of the Czech Armed Forces Chemical Corps within the area of its respective interest.

The main characteristics of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic-leadership, organization, doctrines, personnel and its preparation, weapons systems, material, infrastructure-has been continuously adopted since their creation in 1993. This article analyses three main strands of this process: the first one constitutes the changes in the global security environment and their impact on the role and tasks of armed forces. The second strand reflects the marginalisation of security and defence policy agenda, influencing the instability of armed forces. The last strand focuses on the growing role of international organisations during the provision of security and defence of the Czech Republic. In summary, the author identifies main challenges ahead for Czech political and military leadership.

The article analyzes several key conclusions of US National Intelligence Council's study "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds", published in December 2012. Primarily it focuses on: the diffusion of global power influencing political, economic and security development on both global and regional scales; rising importance of the Asia-Pacific region for global economy and security; Sino-American security relations; the role that the United States and Europe should be played in the changing geopolitical reality. The conclusions offer the author's own interpretation of certain development trajectories, based on his earlier published monographs, studies and articles.

Operation Serval (French: Opération Serval) is an ongoing French military operation in the Republic of Mali, West Africa. The aim of the operation is to oust Islamic militants in the north of Mali, who had begun a push into the centre of Mali. Operation Serval follows the Security Council Resolution 2085 of 20 December 2012. The operation is named after the medium-sized African wildcat species Serval. The author analyzes historic and geopolitical context, including activities of AQMI terrorists. The Serval Operation is of dissymmetric character. At the rear of advancing French troops some groups of rebels and terrorist stayed to make acts of sabotage. According to the author it is necessary to prevent from long-term involving into the conflict, among others, as French territory or territories of other countries might become a target of terrorist attacks.

During the first half of 2010, many Internet sites in the Czech Republic and abroad published a number of alarming articles about the platform, called the European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR, EGF). Their authors refer to this unit as the basis for a new "Holy Alliance", when the gendarmerie from one member state will be going to suppress unrests in another member state - if the local task forces refuse to do so. This paper is trying to correct such speculations and summarizes available information about the respective unit.

The aim of this article is to provide comparison of the main indicators of military power among the individual EU countries, between the EU in total and the U.S., and the comparison of the world's biggest military powers. Current evolvement of changes in military power indicates the shift of the centre of gravity aiming prevailingly eastward towards raising and growing economical powers. Due to the differences of various input data, multiple information sources used for comparison are significantly different. In addition, it is difficult to get them for some isolated countries, the results of which are sometimes only estimated. The study also includes information on the main importers and exporters of the military equipment, as well as the estimation of future trends.

The period of the beginning of the 21st century is typical for the situation characterized by minimization of a global conflict and by decreasing risks of a direct aggression among neighbouring countries. Nonetheless, the occurrence and permanent existence of mass destruction weapons and industrial accidents caused by human beings, natural disasters produced by leakages of toxic industrial materials, are considered as a global problem that determinates not only the activities of national armies, but also activities of civil population. The danger of WMD deployment is especially high at time of danger, when forces are to be used or misused, and terrorist activities might multiply in some world's regions, even in technologically underdeveloped countries.

Recently the defence department has been meeting lower and lower money sources that could finally bring about lower salaries, reduction in numbers of servicemen, dozens of military units are dissolved. One of such economic measures are plans for dismantling the last Military Secondary School (MSS ) in the Czech Republic. Backed by the assessment of expenses or inputs and outputs, stated in several tablets, the authoresses evaluate the abolition of MSS from a long-term view as rather ineffective, in spite of some short-time savings.

The purpose of this article is to deal with Course of Actions development (COA). Attention is paid to ensure a common understanding of COA process. The article broadens the vision and offers deep insights for its readers. Moreover, the war game was described as a method of refining or modifying the COA. It has also been emphasized the commander and staff consider each COA advantages and disadvantages. The Czech Army personnel training and preparation should steadily and deliberately bring improvements into the field of operational planning capability within forces´ command levels. In order to improve operational planning knowledge, it is recommended to study AJP-5 Operational Planning Doctrine and ACO Comprehensive Operations Planning Directive.

The paper presents a case study of the systematic implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to foreign language instruction at the University of Defence (UoD) in Brno. It provides an overview of methods, applications and technologies used in English language training and presents teaching experience gained by the authors. The ICT enable the educators to tailor the language courses to suit their students' needs, and offers numbers of possibilities to deliver the educational content in an interesting and activating way in line with the UoD curriculum and the Ministry of Defence demands.

It is an age-old problem, how to identify someone or something, to prevent from incidents, in which friendly forces fire on their own troops or vehicles by mistake, because of tiredness, exhaustion, psychological stress, technological defects, unforeseen circumstances, etc. Although there exists a technology carried specifically in an aircraft, combat vehicles, that utilizes coded radio signals to identify other friendly units, adopted measures are not always successful. In NATO, we have standardized systems for such identification: BTID-Battlefield Target Identification Device (for identification of vehicles and helicopters, STANAG 4579); and DSID-Dismounted Soldier Identification Device (for identification soldiers, STANAG 4630). At present, Germany (together with the United States) is in the lead of development system IFF. Systems are conceptually, technologically and tactically synthesized into ZEFF (ZielErkennung Freund-Feind), common for vehicles, helicopters, soldiers, as well as vehicles beyond the area of forces deployment. Source: Europäische Sicherheit magazine, 4/2006.