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First, the author, who works at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Mons, briefly describes the contribution of Geographic Service of Czech Forces in terms of geospatial support for NATO. He also mentions current allocation of personnel in military missions and NATO/EU international structures. The article deals with tasks fulfilled by the Geospatial Section within Supreme Headquarters (SHAPE). One of the main section's responsibilities is Geospatial Data Management and Distribution, in line, with releasability conditions, and overall coordination of geo-cells within subordinate HQs. This section widely cooperates in the field of research and development, namely Core GIS project and Geospatial Standardization. Direct Geospatial Support is shortly mentioned, as well as variety smaller assignments.

The author summarises most common and repeated mistakes of graduated officers after leaving military schools. Junior officers are practically in the same position as young manager in civil life, so we can find some analogies in civil managerial leadership. Civil manager face practically the same problems and situations. There are various mistakes that junior officers ought to be warned. Such educational instructions and leadership should be implemented into military schools' curricula. Backed by a vast amount of studied literature, the author offers his own solution. He makes use of five myths by Linda Hill, professor at Harvard Business School. The problem is to avoid extreme leadership styles: dictatorlike and benevolent ones.

Army rations or preserved foods are used to be normally prepared in field kitchen. For standardization reasons, the forces of NATO nations have agreed on several principles, embedded in STANAG 2937 that is the basic document for nutrition of soldiers, compulsory for all NATO member states. Up to now, as a field food support, the Army of the Czech Republic has had at its disposal only the so-called "combat ration food", offered in two variants. At Jan Bata University Zlín, experts finished the development of pre-prepared meals, i.e. "meals ready to eat" intended to be prepared in field conditions. Basic rations meet all requirements prescribed by the Czech Field Manual Prov-1-1. Emergency rations meet 60 % of required energy value. They are intended to help in crisis situations, in time of lack of food. For handling, packing and traffic grounds, food rations are planned for 25 persons.

Nowadays, with the potential employment of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Explosives (CBRNE), terrorism poses a threat to all countries over the world, it becomes scary phenomenon at a global scale. The author introduces key agreements dealing with this subject: Chemical Weapons Convention, European Agreement concerning the international carriage of Dangerous goods by Road, European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways, Regulations concerning the International carriage of Dangerous Goods by rail, and so on. The main objective of the EU is to introduce such legal measures so that it would be extremely difficult for terrorist groups to legally gain CBRNE materials. The purpose of this essay is to analyse legal frame of CBRNE materials and to stress the protection against their misusing within an authority of the ACR.

There are three protective emblems in use: the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and the Red Crystal. As protection symbols, they are used in armed conflicts to mark persons and objects (buildings, vehicles, etc.) which are working in compliance with the rules of the Geneva Conventions. The cross, crescent or crystal must be used alone for what is termed "protective" use, to safeguard relief workers. The article predominantly deals with the third protocol emblem also known as the Red Crystal. In short it summarizes its history. Because of the controversy over Israel's national society Magen David Adom and a number of other disputes, the introduction of an additional neutral protection symbol had been under discussion for a number of years. In fact, this symbol is quite unknown in our country.

This is another publication by Mr. Jan Eichler. It consits of three parts: the fi rst one defines nearly three dozens of basic terms in the field of security, the second one deals with wars in the 90?s, and finally third part concentrates on terrorism. The book has evidently pedagogical bias, with explanatory character. Under the influence of foremost sociologist Ulrich Beck, Jan Eichler interprets risks as ?social phenomena? derived from threats. The author also evaluates wars in Africa, Asia and Latin America, in Serbia or the Persian Gulf, which took place in 1990-2001. There were 120 armed confl icts, with 94 % victims from among civil population (compared with 50 % of WWII and 15 % WWI). In those wars bellingerent parties deployed weapons of all sorts, with the exception of WMD. As far as international terrorism is concerned, the author sees as its primary characterists the absence of warning before terrorist attacks are accomplished.

The world is changing, new centres of global development have come into being. BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China that have formed a bloc to challenge US dominance. The acronym BRIC was coined in 2001 by an analyst for Goldman Sachs bank who argued that, by 2050, the combined economies of the BRIC countries would eclipse the combined economies of the current richest countries. This new power politics is reflected by the team of authors Miloš Balabán and Antonín Rašek in a book mentioned above and therefore apart form the BRICK attention is paid to the Unites States and the EU respectively. The main purpose of their analysis is to predict prospective trends in global governance, they lay down four hypothetical scenarios of possible world's development.

The problem of forming military decisions lies in the very core of this article. Among others, there are a lot of highly unpredictable impact factors; there are many assessment criteria for individual variants of solving problems. Criteria of qualitative characters, and various interpretations of data information demand quality decisions; they are sometimes difficult to understand and even contradictory. The commanders and their staffs must be well educated, trained and experienced. To meet this precondition we must ensure quality of career training, supported by practical experiences. The staff work must be practiced regularly, with the use of various scenarios, supplemented by historical studies of past or recent fi ghts and battles.

The Provincial Reconstruction Team of Czech Republic operates in very complicated conditions and environment that are in fact hostile. It can't be excluded that growing scepticism, today common among Afghanistan security experts, more or less could affects even Czech members of ISAF missions. This study deals with existing knowledge end experiences of Czech PRT in Afghanistan. It is divided into two parts. The fi rst one concerns with outside and inside factors infl uencing ISAF missions. It brings in details characteristics of geographical, historic ambiances in which ISAF mission are performed. The second part concentrates on tangible experiences of Czech PRT members, both in political and military spheres. Here the authors summarize conclusions and upon them they outline challenges for the future.

Between 1993 and 2009, the EU consisted of three pillars. This structure was introduced with the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993, and was eventually abandoned in 2009, with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, which among others abolished the so-called second pillar of the EU "Common Foreign and Security Policy". Today this role was taken over by several institutions and agencies, established for solving relevant questions, for examle the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) and the European Defence Agency (EDA). The difference is that national acencies solve problems separately, whereas EU agency take into account commont foreign and security policy, under the supervision of the EU.

It is a review of the book by Col. Ing. Josef Fučík (ret.), the former member of advisory board to this magazine. Pre-war Czechoslovakia was a parliamentary republic, typical for its instability. In 1918-1938 a total of 18 governmental administrations superseded, there were 11 defence ministers. Sometimes this position was hold by the prime minister. The same was with the position of Chief of the Main Staff of Czech forces. In 19191939 five generals were replaced, two French and three Czechoslovak. One of them was Alois Vácslav Podhajský, who held this position only for a short time, from September 1 to October 14, 1926. As an "old Austrian soldier", he went through many nuisances and sorrows both in pre-war army and namely after World War II.

This article aims at building a bridge upon a gap, which separates academic sphere and intelligence community in the issue of predictive methodology. The author tries to accomplish this objective by presenting intelligence predictive methods based on open-source literature research. First, the question of uncertainty and probability in prediction is introduced (Cynefin template). Then follows basic introduction to predictive methods in civil and military intelligences, so that the reader might grasp the fundamentals of early warning systems. The academics and above all journalists should know the risks and perils in forming intelligence forecasts, estimates, foresight and warning scenarios, e.g. the so-called Black Swan scenario, the author explains potentials failures of the Delphi method. This study ought to be regarded as an introductory to predictive intelligence concurrently done by governmental agencies for purposes of national security and defence.

Risk management covers the identification, assessment, and prioritisation of risks, which is followed by coordinated preventive operations to minimize negative impacts on society. The most demanding is the so-called risk assessment (risk identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation). The Risk Catalogue consists of introductory page, and twenty cards for risks register. With the assistance of this catalogue, defence analysts acquire general knowledge about number of risks and their frequency. The level of risk is calculated by summation according to its probability, gravity, and unwanted effects. In case of defence department, actual tasks are assigned to manage to Defence Ministry, Division, Branch, and Section accordingly. Possible risks are represented at a chart accompanying the article. The purpose of Risk Catalogue, its principles, guidelines for implementation, is to make the work of analysts easier.

The proponents of Revolution in Military Affairs claim that modern military technology will lift a "fog of war". In this article the term "fog of war" is described and illustrated in a work of Carl von Clausewitz who is supposed to introduce this term, used also in the famous novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. These classics show us that uncertainty and chance, in other words fogs of war, are essential to human mentality. They will be present as long as war remains within a scope human endeavour. Emphasizing that military technology is equal to lifting the "fog of war" can lead to situation in which only trained commanders are supposed be able perfectly address problems in "chessboard" of war or computer simulators, but they will unable to manage a real world full of chaos, as they not used to count with uncertainties.

Animals have been used for military purposes from the ancient world to nowadays. Horses, elephants, mules and camels were carrying supplies and took part in battles. Dogs were trained for securing livestock and military camps. Soviet army used them as live mines during World War II. The U.S. Army explored the possibility of using bats as live incendive devices. Even the terrorists could use animals for destroying chosen targets in the same way armies used to do. The deployment of animals would be advantageous for any terrorist group because security forces would not expect this kind of attack. Up to now, there have been just a few cases of abusing animals by terrorists, e.g. for bomb laden mules or dogs carcasses which hide explosive devices. But animals could also help with the fight against terrorism, for example dogs or bluegill fish.

Bread has constituted a staple of man's diet for centuries. Modern armies have made bread a major part of their sustenance, portable ovens are carried on campaign to facilitate its ample provision. The provisional support of Czech missions abroad is our first priority, baked products belong among those most important. The article deals with results of specific research done within Defence University in this field. The research covered analysis of modern technologies used for baking, devices and appliances. It dealt with traditional materials (e.g. flour) and verified them from a point of chemical, microbiological and sensorial parameters. Actual costs were compared with prices of other methods of production. The research proved that container bakeries are effective device for bread production.

In recent years both authoresses took part in several important international terminology meetings: European Association for Lexicography (EURALEX), International Conference and Exhibition Dedicated to Defence Training, Education and Simulation (ITEC), and finally the highest Alliance terminology forum: NATO Terminology Programme. In our country this subject is under the authority of Defence Standardisation, Codification and Government Quality Assurance Authority. All problems are incorporated in the Terminology Programme of Defence Department. It deals with STANAG 3680 implementations, MoD's standardisation policy, standardisation terminology process. The most representative terminology body within the Army of the Czech Republic is the Terminology Conference of MoD, traditionally held in the premises of the Defence University Brno.

This year we marked the 10th anniversary of our full membership in NATO. We've verified that the nation can become a "full fledged member" in eight or ten years at earliest. Signing the treaty, you became "only" a freshman. You must learn everything, from "consensus building" to forming informal coalition. The author of this article, Deputy of the Czech Permanent Representative to NATO, summarizes the history of fulfilling the membership's prerequisites and following difficult process of implementation of fundamentals and requirements, e.g. the so-called NATO legal acquis (Status of Forces Agreement), Planning and Review Process, setting Force Goals, fixing Identification Friend or Foe on Mi-21 aircraft assigned for Air Policing, problems with developing home infrastructure for Host Nation Support. We joined common security planning, took part in NATO Security Investment Programme and Conference of National Armaments Directors. But today's organization is quite different that used to be, the role and missions have changed. We must be prepared to meet them too.

The basic question of Army transformation was the fact that it was not constituted upon the statehood principle that gives precedence to politicking individual parties. The ultimate goal of this transformation was to build forces loyal to democratic republic, but during the last ten years the top personnel at the Ministry of Defence changed several times, leaving the Army with restricted means, without precise laid down tasks and goals. Uncontrolled interventions into forces structure, reducing numbers of military personnel, lead to balance on the verge of collapse. The basic goal to develop Czech national security and defence policies did not fell short. Army was transforming itself, initially under the management of former generals and later under civilian control, especially after 1991. The division of the armed forces after the split-up of the state at the turn of 1992 went very smoothly, with good discipline. The transformation has been influenced above all by the newly adopted legislation, accession to NATO and to the European Union, participation in missions abroad and professionalization of the Czech armed forces. The whole process has been facilitated by the acceptance and implementation of a broader concept of security.

The Czech Republic became involved in ISAF in 2002, among others we sent there both field hospital and field surgical team; later meteorological group, traffic control group with EOD team began to serve at the Kabul International Airport. In 2004, the 601st Special Force Group was engaged in Enduring Freedom operation, Czech soldiers served in German Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), positive role was played by Czech Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team. Another successful mission was establishing PRT Logar, supporting social, economical development in this province. New common features of PRT, helicopter OMLT, EUPOL mission, partly SOG is the concentration on building Afghan capacities, namely ANSF (Afghan National Security Force) and public administration. Together with their deliberate support, it has multiplying effect, as assistance and training bring more effects than mere fulfilling standard military tasks, guarding e.g. Dutch base.

At that time, the base for plural societies in Eastern Europe was founded. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary joined NATO defence alliance. Serious global threats of economic, military, ecology, social, ethnic, religious, criminal characters were lasting. The important question of proliferation of mass destruction weapons was raised. The analyses of security situations in Europe and the World respectively proved that armed conflicts were mostly internal, in a form of civic wars, but demographically endangering bordering countries. Those threats were only discussed, namely nobody fully realized the threat of terrorism. Defence budgets were reduced, all people wanted to profit from the so-called peace dividends. Czech army was loyal to the state; it was not misused in inner political conflicts, which was regarded as something normal by the majority of Czech public. But there were many problems left, especially the role and engagement of the ACR in the following century.

As we look at some organization as the system of mutually tied and connected processes, se can see that every process is specifically defined. Then key processes constitute the mission of organization (the very core of its existence), which are further divided into several sub-processes, i.e. risk management is subdivided into: establishing the context, risk identification (risk sources), risk analysis, risk evaluation, risk management and risk management re-evaluation (its effectiveness), compiled by the so-called stockholders. Enumerating various risks, the authors conclude that state administration is influenced by two categories of risks: from outside and inside. They have impact both on strategical level and operational one. At the same time, most of elements of organization (employees, material, activities) can present assets, on the other side might present inner risks.

Many people in the world lead intolerably insecure lives. In many cases insecurity is the consequence of armed conflicts in which civilians are deliberately targeted, sometimes, their insecurity has natural causes, like earthquakes, hurricane, tsunami or disease, they suffer from famine. Security is a broader term, covering not only military threats. Human rather than nation-state security should be at the heart of European policy. Instead of defeating enemies or pacifying warring parties, EU missions should focus on protecting civilians, through law enforcement with the occasional use of force. EU member states ought to support a new framework for the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). The following seven principles are underlined: (i) the primacy of Human Rights, (ii) clear political authority, (iii) multilateralism, (iv) a bottom-approach, (v) regional focus; (vi) the use of legal instruments, (vii) the appropriate use of force. In fact, underlines Mr. Karaffa, humane security concept forms the very base of common European culture and identity.

It is a point at which attacking forces are unable to continue their attack or even defend themselves, because do casualties, shortages of fuel, ammunition and rations, and sheer physical exhaustion. This sequel article deals with the theory of the operational art focusing on the culminating point operational concept. The article emanates from Carl von Clausewitz's ideas and concepts described in his book "On War", doctrinal publications analysis and study projects of the operational art theorists. It treats conditions influencing achievement of the culminating point on single levels of war-strategic, operational and tactical and highlights coherences and factors having fundamental influences on culmination. The article is accompanied by several graphs describing this theory in detail. Key words: Culmination, Culminating Point, Zeroing, Intelligence Preparation of the Battlespace, Campaign Planning and Developing Operations.

The document "A Secure Europe in a Better World" approved in 2003 has introduced the so-called the European Security Strategy. The authors use this framework to refer to the whole set of organisations, people and activities, both military and civilian, to ensure capabilities to be delivered effectively and efficiently, both in current surroundings and in preparation for the future. They are members of the Centre for Social and Economic Strategies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University Prague, which has conducted a wide-ranging research work to detect the long-term trends, factors and actors shaping the position of the Czech Republic in European environment. The article illustrates the evolution of the key structural factors affecting change over the two decades to come-demography, the economy, energy, the environment, science and technology-and addresses some of the main questions concerning the future of the international system.

This article begins with a theoretical discussion of the culminating point, for both the attack and defence. Key definitions and related concepts provided in Carl von Clausewitz's On War, Joint Publication 3-0, Doctrine for Joint Operations, and U.S. Army Field Manual 100-5, Operations, are discussed in detail. These sources provide many of the factors that can cause a force to reach culmination, and serve as a basis for understanding the difficulties involved in trying to determine the time and place of culmination. Other current factors attributing to culmination are discussed, and recommendations are offered to help operational commanders and planners to zero in on this elusive point. It is of the utmost importance that one's own, and the enemy's culminating point be identified with the highest possible degree of accuracy during the planning phase of a major operation or campaign.

This essay depicts he alternative approach to investments in public sector. Author expresses his belief on evaluating and rating investments in public sector in the same way as in private sector. The simple theoretical analysis and foreign experiences give enough evidence about feasibility of such approach even in defence sector. Nowadays, in governments across the world, public-sector financial systems are being transformed more fundamentally than at any time in decades. The changes are taking place to respond to a number of deficiencies of government accounting and financial-management system. Foreign experience has proved that a system of output appropriation provides a workable alternative to the traditional input-based system and can yield substantial advantages for both departmental management and government decision makers.

This essay depicts he alternative approach to investments in public sector. Author expresses his belief on evaluating and rating investments in public sector in the same way as in private sector. The simple theoretical analysis and foreign experiences give enough evidence about feasibility of such approach even in defence sector. Nowadays, in governments across the world, public-sector financial systems are being transformed more fundamentally than at any time in decades. The changes are taking place to respond to a number of deficiencies of government accounting and financial-management system. Foreign experience has proved that a system of output appropriation provides a workable alternative to the traditional input-based system and can yield substantial advantages for both departmental management and government decision makers.

In the Czech Republic, the schooling of security experts is broken into fragments, i.e. into many fields of study, which go beyond security politics. The state of affairs can't be regarded as satisfactory. The first step is the Resolution of Czech Security Council No. 32/2007, Common Minimum for Security Experts, which put a proposal to introduce security issues into teaching programmes in universities and institutions of further education, so that such institutions could obtain accreditation in this field. This minimum is specified namely for undergraduate study; graduated security studies ought to be more specialized. Political scientists involved in the study of security policy should attempt to devise solutions for problems of public concern. Security study covers issues such as non-military threats and risks, proliferation, pollution, natural disasters, mass migration, economy risks. It is tied with international relations, foreign policy and national security strategies.

Many security experts are of the opinion that the global security situation has been going worse af ter September 11, 2001. Even though Balkan wars ended, in fact, there are high tensions tied with Kosovo?s proclamation of independence, or in similar state of affairs in Macedonia. In Iraq, there some elements of improving, but in Afghanistan there are a lot of problems, we must mention tensions in Iran concerning building its nuclear capacities and missile tests, Russian-Georgian conflict, which is reflected in the policy of NATO enlargement: Georgia, the Ukraine were not accepted to NATO alliance. The reviewer highly appreciates this anthology of security studies, with the same title as this article. Editor Vlastimil Galatík, published by Defence University Brno, 2008.

The administrative culture is something like "mind set" of "software" of organization, its philosophy, a part of which is the so-called economization. The process of economization of defence sphere will lead to further decrease in numbers, cutting down redundant materiel, supplies. Such economy measures should produce savings in terms of hundred millions Czech crowns, side by side with the increased potential of the whole military organization. The authors introduce Activities in Defence Sector the CAF model (Common Assessment Framework), based upon the Model Excellence of the European Foundation for Quality Management, expressed by the following formula: factors involved equals personnel times activities (education) times facilities (investments). There are some similarities between army management and business administration, so the economy instructions ought to be part of overall military education and training.