Fulltext search in archive

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.

United states of America classified from 2019 Iranian revolution guards as "foreign terrorist organisation". Article analyses consequences of this step. Text in the introduction presents Guards and highlights the differences between this organization and "classical" terrorist organization. Goal of the main part of text is to analyze American steps and finds consequences resulting from it. This work concluded that though legal consequences of putting Guards on the list of "foreign terrorist organization" are small, on the other hand its practical impacts are huge. There was also found link between putting Guards on this list and new American strategy of "maximal pressure" against Iran.

The article deals with the possibility of using simulation technologies in the training of students of the University of Defence in tactical training and seeks to answer the question whether the use of these means brings demonstrable effectiveness by means of an experiment. First-year students in a Field Training course were randomly divided into 42 sections of approximately equal numbers and then assigned to 3 categories based on their use of live and virtual simulation. All groups were assigned points for a specific tactical activity during the final exercise. The total scores of all groups were subjected to a subsequent statistical investigation using a one-factor analysis of variance on the data to examine whether there were statistically significant differences between the groups. Although students' use of modern simulation technology had a perceived positive effect on improving the quality of training, there was no evidence of statistically significant differences between the groups studied using statistical methods. However, the results of the experiment do show to some extent that some differences do exist between the groups and therefore leaves some opportunity to conduct similar, or more extensive research, in an effort to promote the attractiveness of the training process to military school students.

This article examines whether Turkey is ready for a full-scale military conflict with Bashar Al-Assad's Syria. It draws from an adaptation of Clausewitz's concept of three resources that a state must possess to be able to win a war: the fighting forces proper, popular support, and its allies. Turkey is at a significant disadvantage when it comes to its air force and air defense capabilities. Should a major confrontation erupt, Turkey would not be guaranteed to be able to control the relevant air space. Turkish citizens do not favor seeing their country in a foreign quagmire. Despite myriad differences, Turkey it is still deeply embedded within NATO, and its strategic interests do not differ from those of its strategic allies. Turkey also cannot afford to risk an open military conflict with Russia. The article concludes that Turkey is politically and militarily not capable of fighting a full-scale war in Syria.

The article deals with the possibilities of protecting the outer perimeter of static military facilities using ground-based unmanned systems that can complement the already existing protective elements. The conclusions reached and theoretical assumptions were experimentally verified in the field during the protection of a small base, using UGS Taros Furbo and Tactical Decision Support System calculations. The protection routes calculated by the system were then practically implemented by dismounted patrols and autonomous UGS Taros Furbo, focusing on terrain traversability and time of overcoming. The main objective of the paper is to present to the military public the current possibilities of deploying UGS Taros Furbo in the protection of static military facilities such as command posts or bases. Their use can significantly reduce the requirements for the deployment of dismounted patrols to protect the outer perimeter.

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 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.

The article analyzes key aspects of the development of the Czech Republic‘s defense policy since 1989, with a focus on the role of strategic culture. It examines historical, political, and social factors that have shaped the Czech Republic‘s approach to defense and security issues. Special attention is given to the transformation of the Czech Armed Forces, the transition to a professional military model, and responses to changing geopolitical threats. The analysis also considers public perceptions of the military, the influence of historical narratives on strategic culture, and the attitudes of political elites toward defense matters. The article highlights the importance of strategic culture as an analytical framework for understanding long-term trends and the evolution of defense policy, while suggesting potential avenues for future research in the Czech context.

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 paper argues that proxy war is an increasingly often used tool in the Middle East, in the already conflicted territories where international involvement is not only enabled, but also attracted and encouraged by the international law for the purpose of region's securitization. Thus, the paper's aim is to increase awareness on the fact that the Middle Eastern countries passing through civil war periods and accepting external actors to deal with their crises do not only become fertile territories for proxy wars, but the intervening actors start pursuing their own interests beyond the host country's interest in resolving the conflict.

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.

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 aim of the article is to broaden scientific discussion held within the defence and security community on methodological approach to scenario development process. The author brings an innovative look at the concept of modular task force development, which is considered, in his conception, as a result of interconnection between capability requirements arisen from scenario analysis process, and respective type of force units being a part of the current military structure. The author´s approach to task force generation process, illustrated by a case study, is a synthesis of best practices and findings derived from national as well as EU and NATO planning processes. The proposed concept of the task force generation might be perceived as an effective tool for supporting strategic decision-making process.

The article deals with the applicability of professional soldiers in the labour market after the termination of military service. Its aim is to outline the information about the unemployment of former soldiers and to present the main results of sociological research, which was held among 313 former members of the Czech Armed Forces. Based on the processing of statistics of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, it was found out that on average 18% of former soldiers of productive age were 8 months without employment during 2008 - 2017. With the help of a questionnaire survey, it was found out that more than a fifth of the respondents were looking for an employment in the civilian sector for more than half a year. The majority of respondents do not perceive the system of preparation for a second career of soldiers as elaborate. They state that the issue of second career was not addressed during their military service. There are possible recommendations for improving the current state of integration of soldiers into the labour market at the end of the article.

This paper deals with the issue of logistics planning – one of the seven planning domains of defence planning in the Ministry of Defence Department of the Slovak Republic. In the framework of the descriptive research problem, the author was looking for an answer to the question: How is logistics planned in the defence planning system at the departmental level? The article contains the results of theoretical and empirical research carried out on the given issue. The author explains the main theoretical background of the research issue, describesin more detail the methodology of logistics planning in the conditions of the department as well as current knowledge and experience from practice, points out the most significant problems in the field and proposes their possible solutions.

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.

The article concerns the issue of arson attacks in Israel.The issue of terrorism in Israel is quite broad, given that it is a very common phenomenon here and Israel deals with terrorism on a daily basis. The paper therefore focuses on incendiary balloons, a weapon that repeatedly caused fires around the Gaza Strip between 2018-2023. It examines their history, their design, outlines the possibilities of their elimination, the advantages and disadvantages of possible technical solutions, and a reflection on the future of their usage.

The article describes the issue of implementing the Resistance Operating Concept as part of a comprehensive approach to ensuring the defense of the state and its resilience. The basic conditions necessary for the introduction of that instrument are sought, and a comparative analysis of selected European countries that started to build a resistance movement is carried out. The article further describes the strategic definition of the resistance movement in the conditions of the Czech Republic, the legislative definition of the resistance movement and its anchoring in the framework of mental law, and the connection of the resistance movement to individual phases of the conflict. It analyzes the relationship of the resistance movement to individual phases of the conflict and categorizes the actors of the resistance movement, their roles and the methods used. In conclusion, it defines the necessary conditions for the implementation of the resistance movement into the security and defense system of the state.

This article deals with one of the most explosive areas of the world today, which is the Near and Middle East (NMEA) and especially the territory of historical Palestine, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (IPC) has been going on for a long time. The text deals primarily with historical and military factors and is written as a historical explanatory analysis. It focuses on the most significant historical events and explains the ways of functioning and the consequences of the processes that have been taking place there for a long time.

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 follows the author's comparative analysis of American and Russian nuclear doctrines and armaments from the fall of 2021. It presents the current nuclear strategy of the United States of America based on a content analysis of three specific areas of the updated version of the Nuclear Posture Review. Applying interpretive analysis and a rich secondary sources apparatus, the author also reflects on his 2021-formulated assumptions and expectations about the further development of American nuclear strategy under President Joe Biden. The author analyzes the influence of the presidential administration's ideological and political ambitions together with the decisive geopolitical events of 2022 and concludes that mainly due to the second factor, the current shape of American nuclear strategy has not undergone any revolutionary changes and continues to maintain a long-standing continuity and consensus about its basic principles.

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 language training within the Ministry of Defence [MoD] of the Czech Republic is primarily focused on English. However, in accordance with the Concept of Personnel Training for the Needs of the MoD, the MoD provides language training in other foreign languages as well. The language teaching is the responsibility of the Language Centre of the University of Defence Brno [CJV UO] and includes English, French, German and Russian. The aim of this article is to compare the activities of the CJV UO with similar language centres in the defence departments of Germany, Austria and France and to present the teaching of French, German and Russian within the MoD through examples of good practice. In the context of the current geopolitical situation, the teaching of French, German and Russian becomes more important, and the CJV UO responds flexibly to the demands of the MoD regarding the provision of the teaching of these languages including professional language and electronic teaching support.

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.

The selection of optimal weapon systems is crucial for national defense. Traditional empirical methods struggle to address the complexities of modern warfare. This article explores the potential of constructive simulation for informed decision-making in this domain. Simulating tactical operations with complex variables, such as terrain, enemy actions, and system interoperability, provides valuable insights into weapon effectiveness. This enables the optimization of acquisitions in line with strategic goals. Design simulation allows for the exploration of factors difficult to test comparison of armament configurations, analysis of enemy tactics, and optimization of unit composition and deployment, saving costs and time. Simulation enables the safe exploration of even high-risk scenarios.

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.

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.

The enforcement of mandatory military reforms in 2016 and 2018 has significantly affected the overall layout of higher education (HE) in Armenia， creating a number of challenges for different stakeholders. The current research paper makes an attempt to examine the main perceptions of teachers, students, educators, etc., of the enforcement of mandatory military service reforms on the HE system in post-Soviet Armenia. The data of the following study was obtained from four different state universities located in the Republic of Armenia. The outcomes of the research demonstrate that different stakeholders hold controversial opinions in terms of the application of these reforms. The findings illustrate that these reforms positively influenced in developing academic integrity, and equality among students with different social and geographic backgrounds, however, they have worsened the overall competitiveness of higher education creating a female-dominating educational environment.

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.

The work deals with the issue of engineer information, which is necessary for the planning of water crossing, and which can facilitate and speed up the proces of operation planning with the assistance of the staff members of engineer specialization. At present (2019) there is no application software development of engineer support tasks (hereinafter APV ŽEN) within the engineer command and control subsystem AČR, which would take into account the problem of water crossing by troops. The aim of the article is: to analyze the gathering of engineer information for water crossing and to describe it on a specific example of the Morava river, to identify the possibilities of water crossing by forces of AČR, to propose a map base for APV ŽEN, which will be supplemented by engineer information from Povodí s.p. and Motorway and Highway Directorate (hereinafter ŘSD) and to define measures that will support the availability of engineer information in water crossing.