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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.

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.

Russia's actions in the Ukraine have changed the security situation in the Baltic region, which makes NATO's long-term presence in Latvia essential for the Latvian Republic. The impacts of Russian actions on Latvian defence policy are discussed in the paper by Mr Janis Berzinš,Managing Director of the Centre for Security and Defence Research, National Defence Academy of Latvia, in Policy Paper, No. 2, 2014. It is a new way of intervention, new-generation warfare, without the employment of armed combats, using mostly influence and coercion, by means of covert operations. Abridged and adapted. The original English text is available at http://www.naa.mil.lv/~/media/NAA/AZPC/Publikacijas/PP%2002-2014.ashx. Even though the study came into being in April 2014, the editors regard it worthy to be published, being timeless and with general validity.

After the year 1989 many presumed that "the end of history" came about, after the end of cold war no international security risks would arise. Nowadays we see that everything is different. Risks and threats are an inseparable component of humane existence. A working state must be prepared for those risks, which covers even the field of training citizens. The reviewed publication will certainly contribute to better understanding the complexity of present-day world and its security. The book has two independent parts; the first one is politological by Peter Rožňák, the second part deals with professional arms by Ludvík Juříček.

Ludvík Juříček, Petr Rožňák. Bezpečnost, hrozby a rizika v 21. století. 1. vydání. Brno: Key Publishing, 2014, 324 str., ISBN 978-80-7418-201-3.

The authors analyze the implementation of militant democracy concept in Central Europe, i.e. Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, as those are nations having experiences both with Nazi and communist regimes. The opening part covers a short history of this concepts and mechanisms used to suppress extremist subjects; subsequently the book compares practical instruments of counter-extremist policies, their individual principles and arrangements. This is the comparison that constitutes the main asset to the problem.
MAREŠ, Miroslav - VÝBORNÝ, Štěpán. Militantní demokracie ve střední Evropě. 1. vyd. Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury (CDK), 2013. 249 s. Politologická řada. ISBN 978-80-7325-326-4.

The First World War was a global war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. From the time of its occurrence until the approach of World War II, it was called simply the World War or the Great War. In America, it was initially called the European War. The immediate trigger for war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. This set off a diplomatic crisis. Within weeks, Europe was at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, paving the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved.

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 consequences of economic recession and their impact on national defence budgets can indeed heavily hamper the credibility of both NATO and the EU. A need for coping with budget restrictions and ongoing security crisis in the Ukraine re-opens the issue of common European armed forces as an effective tool for keeping security stability not only in Europe, but also around the world. However, the key issue is to what extent it is feasible to develop autonomous European armed forces operating independently of transatlantic allies, while there is a very strong NATO-EU interconnection in the area of military capability development.

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.

This paper addresses a gap in the literature relating to the effects and implications of water scarcity and the potential for water wars. The theme has evident military consequences. Experts provide rather pessimistic forecasts about the situation with freshwater on the planet. The early warning models seem to be quite useful as well as early warning conflict indicators. The author deals with the problem from the level of the Czech Republic.

Jan Eichler, Lukáš Tichý: USA a Ruská federace - komparace z pohledu bezpečnostní a strategické kultury. Kompletní analýza bezpečnostní a strategické kultury USA a Ruska v letech 1991 až 2012. Brož., 318 str., ISBN 978-80-87558-16-4.
Backed by the current history, the monograph explains different ways in which the USA and the Russian Federation use their power. A large part is devoted to the concepts of strategy and the strategic culture, militarism, mental model or smart power. The attention is focused on Obama´s vision to have a world without nuclear weapons, as well as the Prague treaty for the reduction of strategic nuclear weapons, and Obama's restraint and caution in using military force for achieving political goals. The book analyses strategic and doctrinal documents that constitute a framework of Russian security and foreign policy.

This paper refers about the threat of Islamic terrorism, its roots, motives, as well as its origins. Namely the author informs about the Jemaah Islamiyah, Islamic organization, which is less know in the Czech Republic. Indonesia has a larger Muslim population than any other country in the world, with approximately 202.9 million identified as Muslim (88,2 % of Indonesia´s population). It is generally regarded as a tolerant country, in which various religions living side by side without larger problems. Nevertheless even here the danger of violent Islamic terrorism has arisen. The theme is treated in a proper historical context, with regards to possible impacts on security situation in the world.

This paper deals with a geospatial support at a strategic level, especially with the production of rapid map products, presenting at this level the most required product type. Backed by their own working experiences from both NATO and EU command structures, the authors describe requirements for geospatial products created at a strategy level, emphasizing the importance of respecting the general cartographic principles. The authors compare the general technology of thematic map production, making use of Geographic Information System, technology, with the technology specific to the strategic level. They also describe the specifics of production at that level, presenting examples both similarities and differences between geospatial support in NATO and the EU.

The ability to deliver information about an incident, long time before it has happened, puts intelligence analysts into the very first line of fight against the threat of terrorism, extremism, proliferation, or activities of alien services. The article deals with some aspects of intelligence research that often influence the value of final reports, presented to their consumers. It analyses intelligence database designated for its end users. It simultaneously reflects the question of indications and warnings against opponent's surprise attacks. Last but not least, the purpose of this article is both to attract the readers´ attention to this theme and also to start debate on the methods of predictions of future threats, drawn up by analysts´ teams, as their reports are not always suitably recognized by their end users.

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 paper describes a design concept of a lightweight armoured vehicle set "S-LOV-CBRN". The equipment of this set allows its crew to carry out a safe reconnaissance activities in areas with unknown situation under chemical, biological and radiological risks (CBRN reconnaissance), as well as the risk of contact with armed opponents.

Each officer is obligated to meet his or her qualification requirements, identified in the job description. In order to obtain a required military qualification, officers are usually send to a training course, which is either provided or organized under the auspice of the Ministry of Defence. The discussion within the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic about the system of military courses has been ongoing for the last two decades. Although the system of officers´ development is periodically reviewed, a certain economic paradox still remains. While the number of officers without adequate qualification is not diminishing, at the same time there is a segment of officers who exceed their qualification requirements, but they do not make any progress in their military careers. Despite the situation, these officers are required to take additional training and educational activities.

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 article deals with particularly topical problem, the riots with ethnic background. The present situation is compared with history illustrations and with similar recent events abroad. Author's reflections and scenarios outline a variant of state failure and its institutions, with the exception of army. He identifies respective incoming risks, among others tied with the so-called Roma question. Actually, his hypothetical solutions are not backed by the current laws of the Czech Republic. The author comes to the conclusion that army deployment might be used only as an instrument of last resort, "ultima ratio".

The article is freely connected with the article United Nation Military Observer published in this Military Revue No 3, 2013, where the role of UN military observer was specified, i.e. as a member of an international peace support operation and military peace engagement. This following article mainly deals with UN military observer training procedures and concentrates on the classification of this training category. The lager part of the article is focused on military observers´ general preparation and its subjects and contents. In respective chapters, there are individual items of this training and their implementation explained, partly in the ACR. Finally, the author opens the question of chances to implement some neglected types of military observer's schooling, specific mission training, in-place training, and refresh training.

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.

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.

This paper deals with the activities of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, under national command on its own territory, with the emphasis to the activities of civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) components. It puts stress on the issue of forces operations, those of CIMIC units in particular, within the Integrated Rescue System, during crisis situations, i.e. natural disasters, environmental accidents, etc. The paper comes out from the tasks defined by the Defence White Paper. Those tasks are compared with the legislation in effect, and the authors make some inquiries about suitable measures to implement them. Unlike missions carried out abroad, the CIMIC problems and tasks in ACR operations on home territory are nearly untouched. The paper aims to open discussion over this topic, among others, because our current relevant legislation is obsolete.

The organizational structures are to define and effectively make plans for humane activities (individuals and groups) to meet set objectives. In the Army of the Czech Republic, the organizational structures have to fulfil goals not only on tactical levels, but also it has to connect to superior units. It must be clearly defined on both horizontal and vertical levels. The article is focused on differences in organizational structures of logistics support of some battalions and that of brigade. It compares competences, respective responsibilities, in the area of material management, operations support, etc. The aim of the article is to propose an alternative solution, backed by above-mentioned comparison, for further possible evolution of logistics organizational structures, including professional training and career development of logistics members.

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 role of civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) is increasing in the post-modern wars (operations). CIMIC is a significant element at the coordination of military and civilian participant activities over current military operations. New tasks for actors are as result from new NATO concept and outline new tasks dimension. The armed forces as well as the Army of the Czech Republic (ACR), have to solve many problems associated with this new dimension. The article outlines a possible set of activities associated with the new approach to CIMIC in crisis management in the context of the Alliance operation.

In this article the author thinks over one of many variants the mortar units could be deployed into battalion combat task forces to support developing operations. It is a process of gradual compatibility with the units of North Atlantic Alliance and modernizing mortar weapons system with regard to prospective personnel reductions. It is important for joint commanders to be familiar with this kind of combat support, so that they could use it effectively in land operations.

The author summarizes present-day knowledge of this problem. Worms and viruses have transformed to serious security challenges and perfect instruments of cyber espionage. They have become a tool in information warfare. Cyberattacks transformed to risks calling only for technical responses. The growing awareness of the seriousness of the cyber-threat is enhanced by incidents, e.g. the malware "Stuxnet" attacking the Iranian nuclear programme. Actually, cyber space is regarded as a fifth dimension of military deployment, apart for land, air, water, and cosmos. Some nations are already investing massively in cyber capabilities that can be used for military purposes. Most Western nations have considerably stepped up their defences in recent years and are forming special units for cyber warfare.

Unlike the real state of affairs, the scenarios for Europe 2010 did not presuppose the rise of financial and economy crises. Political scientists did not perceive the series of terrorist attacks, namely in Great Britain, Spain and Russia. Security questions, home security and defence, came to the foreground more then was originally expected. There are hubs of future power blocks of divided Europe. It is impossible to incorporate all the results and consequences of our presuppositions. Since we want to look into individual, particularly interesting developments, the author recommends to create several teams for individual scenarios, instead of drawing several scenarios by one scholarly team.