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The term "security", originally used for the defence of state/national territory, was surpassed by "global security", ranging from world's security situation to monitoring foreign conflicts with the deployment of pre-emptive actions in places with tides of violence, instability. This article describes mentioned complexity of current and future military operational environment dilemma: generally, armed forces are affected by multifaceted circumstances that have to be taken into account and mustn't be ignored or neglected during the preparation and performance of their mission. At present, threat spectrum is characterized by three key characteristics: dynamics, complexity, and lower importance of geographical area. The socalled Long Term Vision EU describes the future military environment which is divided into three components: humane (social), cybernetic (informational, computer, communication), physical (natural, geographic) and is bridging the gap between strategy and capabilities of forces.

In fact, we have no universal method for evaluating impacts and protection of nature during military exercises and training. Establishing Environmental Training Group (NATOTraining Group/Army-Sub-Group) revolutionized the ways in which hazards were defined and analyzed to help communities protect themselves against these perils. Newly developed Training Impact Matrix/ Hazard & Impact Index methods enable truly to assess environmental dangers of military materials, vehicles, activities, energy consumption, and their impacts on important localities. Many features of above mentioned methods were introduced by Czech representatives in 2000 at Aachen (Germany). The index of environmental acceptability was further elaborated by Czech experts, among others by the authors of this article. It enables set levels of environmental dangers, their impacts, independently from organic structure of national forces, or individual countries. The article is accompanied by tables, mathematical formulas and patterns of calculation risk categories.

There are many items in American foreign policy the Europeans do not agree, namely its tendency towards "strong world leadership". On the other hand, the Americans would prefer stronger Europe, namely in time of world's economic crisis when US defence expenditures are practically frozen, and when pre-emptive strategy by president Bush exhausted most of American sources. Even the Europeans feel that they should profile themselves as independent, strong power, but their Common Foreign and Security Policy is still more political declaration than really military strategy. Many security experts suggest that the Lisbon Treaty excludes NATO membership as far as questions concerning defence are concerned. NATO alliance still expects new strategy that ought to be approved in December 2010. The authors predict the necessity to strengthen the so-called Second Pillar of the EU, as the United States are going to be more oriented towards cooperation with Japan, South Korea and Australia. We must bear it in mind, drawing up long-term visions of Czech Security policy.

The Military Technical Institute of Ground Forces (VTÚPV) Vyškov was established in 1978 as a research authority and its activities have covered both requirements of the Army of the Czech Republic as well as the civilian sector. The VTÚPV Vyškov Division specializes in equipment, material and technologies of the ground forces. It solves tasks ranging from theoretical analyses and applied research and development to the prototype production phase, testing and validation, and small series production. It is an accredited testing laboratory for testing products and systems; it operates as an accredited certifying body for a large number of products. Since 2003 it is a part of the military repair shop VOP-026 Šternberk, s.p. (state enterprise) founded by the Ministry of Defence. The article enumerates its activities, namely just finishing semi-anechoic hall EMC (electromagnetic compatibility), the most important and most expensive investment project since the late 80s.

To fulfil Czech obligation as an EU Battle Group Framework Nation according to the regulating document EU BG Training and Certification, the Czech Army is to certify that the CZE/SVK Battle Group EU meet the standards and criteria stated in Standards and Criteria for EU BG. It is recommended that the CZE/SVK Battle Group EU certification process should be analogous with NATO Response Force (NRF) certification procedure and practical methods. Further it is suggested that the CZE/SVK Battle Group EU certification procedure is divided into several evaluation procedures: preparation planning evaluation, war-fighting evaluation, and technical evaluation. Each procedure will be developed by specialized teams with representatives in the sub-working group to ensure that the different procedures harmonize. The views expressed in this assessment are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of EU Military Structure or the Czech Ministry of Defence. All information and data for this paper were drawn from unclassified sources. The written sources are listed in the matrix above.

The change of security situation in the world, international ties and last but not least changes in operational environment, exploitation of new technologies are reflected by changes in defence planning, military organization, forces engagement and operational assessment. Time, flexibility, cooperation in coalition operations, interoperability in technology spheres play incommutable roles together with trained personnel. Command and control (C2) is self-contained system depending on many factors provided by the so-called System of Communication and Information. At present it is the very base for information collection, decision-making process, preparing variants of operation for both commander and his staff. Among others the author writes about Network Enabled Capability system introduced into Czech armed forces. C2 programme is also a part of educational curriculum at Defence University Brno.

This opening study is written by two authors, members of Centre for Social and Economic Strategies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University Prague, which is an interdisciplinary research and education unit engaged in the development of theory, methodology and practice of exploring possible futures, and the application of analyses and forecasts in decision making. The authors propose to supplement prognostic scenarios by the so-called wild cards that represent something unpredictable, extra players or actors taking part in a global politics. They compare wild cards of 2001 with the present-day situation, and then predict state of affairs till 2040, among others, the islamisation of Europe and hispanisation of the United States. The purpose of this is to promote dialogues between military and security experts, politicians, civil servants, civil sector activists, as well as individual citizens.

This leading article deals with the sphere of strategy and defence policy. The essay is an output of scholarly work and therefore it is summarizing and evaluating problems in question with professional recommendations. First, the author draws our attention to various concepts of security and underlines national differences backed by national histories. Security concepts have their sources in deep analyses of potential threats and corresponding scenarios, with specific bias to Czech environment. He openly expresses his critical opinions on contemporary security documents, for lack of political security directions, as politicians in general have little knowledge of security and defence problems. In his opinion, the possible outcome lies in a partnership and cooperation with academics outside military and government structures, experts and members of security community, whose expert opinions could help namely to form long-term security concepts.

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.

It is evident that Barack Obama diverges from Bush's pre-emptive strategy. There are changes in style and contents. Obama begins to direct American policy more towards diplomatic negotiations instead underlining military strength. It is evident namely in proposed negotiations with Iran and in case of Russia, where he wants to overcome cooling down after Russia-Georgia clashes and gas crisis. He insists on avoiding unnecessary conflicts and puts stress on good relations with allies and building new partnerships. He is going to withdraw soldiers from Iraq and in spite of problems in Afghanistan to reduce U.S. military budget. Even though Obama wants to maintain American world's leadership, there are some signs of partial changes in American foreign policy, e.g. his orientation towards Asia suggests first signs of multilateral approach of post-American era. The author also mentions the question of "American radar" in the Czech Republic, the fate of which depends on Iran's nuclear power programme.

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.

The article is concentrated on explaining the most important provisions during the preparation and control of shooting procedures, targeting, effective fire, namely during shelling with reference to depth and width of target. First, the authors introduce security regulations, followed by main features of fire control: meteorological preparation, ballistic preparation and other elements of fire. Mortar battery uses distributed fire by platoons, sections or lines. The authors offer several fire tables, schemes, and artillery charts. The basic requirement for deployment of artillery is its effectivity, which presupposed flawless knowledge of shooting rules and their masterly implementation in practice.

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.

The autor responds to several articles published in our Military Review, namely by Prof. František Ochrana, Prof. František Božek, Brigadier Rudolf Urban, Prof. Miroslav Krč, in No. 4/2008, with special appreciation to critical articles by Ing. Jiří Dušek and Lt.Col. Ing František Růžička in the same issue. He tries to find out common denominators of those essays. There are three of them: economization tied with rationalization, risk management, and information compatibility. As necessary he regards to unite those denominators both at the level of decision making officials and at the level of their subordinated elements, by means of e.g. working teams as a guarantee of coordination, so that the adopted Long-term Vision of Defence Department could be actually realized.

The major topic of this article is the problem of radical Islam in the context of contemporary as well as historical development in Europe. In the course of several chapters the author describes basic facts of the modern phenomenon of Islamisation, impending over Europe. His study is supported from several sources, e.g. Gadhafi M., Islam taking over Europe (2006); or reports issued by the Netherlands Security and Intelligence Service (2005); Swiss Country Report on Islamisation (2007), etc. There are over 50 million Muslims in Europe, if Turkey is added to the EU, Europe will have another 50 million Muslims. When terrorism can be considered as a danger, Islam should be considered as a risk to generate such a danger. The democratic state is fully entitled to diagnose any kind of "side effects" as a result of Islamic preaching. This is not judging the religion but its effects on the system. The solution is long-lasting: to support cultural integration, because only a few European Muslims are involved politically, or take part in terrorist attacks.

The paper deals with the risk assessment of professional exposure to the non-ionizing electromagnetic fields caused by radars in the selected military unit. The measured values of electric field or power density in the indication zones where the staff is exposed to the effects of the radar's non-ionizing electromagnetic field was used for the risk assessment with the acceptance of national and European standards. The principle of preliminary precaution was applied concurrently with the risk assessment according to the valid standards. The authors discuss the values of measured outcomes. They used the Checklist Analysis for qualifications of risks and for quantitative risk specifications they use the so-called brainstorming.

Africa has became synonymous with conflict, increasingly violent and protracted. The continent is facing huge difficulties today and the EU is more and more involved in peace enforcement and expeditionary operations. Therefore the purpose of this article is to inform and pass knowledge of operational environment to those Czech soldiers designated to deploy overseas and abroad. It covers topics such as operational areas, understanding EU Battle Group operational Environment and Africa's operational environment. It is necessary for Czech soldiers to understand African operational environment very quickly and profoundly to avoid unfortunate misunderstanding of the local culture, customs, believes, religions, regional official and customary laws. It is a new challenge for the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic to be prepared for the CZE/SVK Battle Group. All information and data for this paper were drawn from unclassified sources.

The study analyzes the key features of Russian policies in the late 2000s and their prospective developments. It is above all the rise of Russia's economic power, boosted by the favourable rising trend of energy prices (oil and gas) that has helped to resume again the position of one of the key world powers, obsessively pursuing its geopolitical interests in a new emerging multipolar world. This also determines its relations with other major global actors, e.g. the U.S., the EU, and China (outlined in this article). As far as military budget is concerned, it is increasing. Russia has overcome a long period of stagnancy. After 2007, they re-established strategical patrol flights off Russian territory; great effort is aimed at power projection, as a means to secure natural resources beyond Russian boarders. The study is closed by Russia's geopolitical prospects till the year 2020. and its Anticipated Development

Evaluating offers of contestants for public contracts belong to key and critical moments of public tenders and the whole acquisition process at all. Variety and comprehensibility of numerical and rating methods shouldn't prevent applicants from understanding conditions and terms of contract/agreement. The transparency principle of evaluating is only slowly pushing forward in our legal system. We move from mere subjectivistic and unverifiable impressions to the unbiased comparing of best offers, together with the requirement of transparency, as a part of the process of comparing, ranking, and assessing offers, by the use of specific qualitative or quantitative factors, such as prices, feasibility, collateral risks, time plan or other conditions. The final step is called amalgamation, when we merge individual classifications in one complex appraisal.

The famous quotation from Moliére that says "Grammar, which knows how to control even kings", implies importance of grammar for everyday use. There are many way of the acquisition of grammar. The best or smartest way of teaching grammar is to memorize rules in sentence contexts to bear them in mind for a longer time, and learn those rules more easily. The authoress presents new ways in teaching grammar, expressed in works by several famous authors, Barton, Birch, Chomsky, Hudson, Larsen-Freeman, Patterson, Pennington, Weaver. Those are: communicative and competitive models, together with systematic and consistent procedures, resulting in highly motivated structure of learning grammar. In the core of this process lies the strong personality of language instructor.

The theme of this study is a prognostic reply to the anticipated rise of mentioned two Asian powers from the point of international relations. Their growing power will precipitate consecutive results-the end of American leading role and coming multiple world. Will it produce world's stability or security threats? The author presents several scenarios. All take note of 9/11 attacks and a possible crash of two form of capitalism, democratic in the West and authoritarian in China and Russia. India has a special position. The economic success of those systems is a great chance for humane rights and civil liberties. World's dominance will be divided among the U.S., China, partly the EU, with strong position of regional powers, India, Japan, Indonesia, Iran, South African Union, Egypt, Brazil, Mexico and others. Russia will lose his superpower position, its internal economic and ethnical problems make it weak, and therefore Russia will attempt to form military coalition with China, which will lead to new world's bipolarity.

It is not too often we could meet such a comprehensive monograph, dealing with security problems. Among such books belongs a book by Jan Eichler, with the same title, published by Charles University Prague, 2007. The most relevant chapter, Wars waged by the U.S. and its allies after the start of global terrorism, offers a provocative question, whether democratic nations, indirectly and unintentionally, gave rise to the upsurge of antipathy amongst the states with different political constitution, resulting in acts of terror? The ambiguous assessments of American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq seem to support author?s view. According to the reviewer, dr. A. Rašek, the author is wrong about the role land forces after the RMA?Revolution in Military Affairs. Without ground forces we are not able to win today?s asymmetrical warfare. The large part of book deals with conflicts not very familiar in the Czech Republic: Ethiopian-Eritrean war, disturbances in Somalia (operation Restore Hope), Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Sierra Leone, Srí Lanka, Cashmere, Nepal, Haiti, Bolivia, and Colombia.

The world's leading climate scientists poses fundamental questions of human security, survival and the stability of nation states. While state weakness and destabilizing internal conflicts are a more likely outcome than interstate war, climate change will be a stress multiplier for all nations and societies, especially those already at risk from ethnic and religious conflicts, economic weakness and environmental degradation. Strategic planners ought to include worst-case climate-change scenarios in their contingency planning, as climate change is set to rank with terrorism, pandemic diseases and major war as one of the principle challenges to security in the twenty-first century. Source: A. Dupont, Survival, Issue 3, 2008, adapted.

How to master foreign language? There are many methods the teacher can use. The authoress enumerates at least the most important ones: grammatical-translation method and communicative language teaching. Both methods are subdivided into smaller groups, emphasizing different aspects of teaching. The second method puts the stress on communication in practical life. The teacher is only a mediator, learners (students) take over responsibility for mastering foreign language. The language is used prevalently in tangible social context. This method could be called "natural approach". The language acquisition is hard and demands extreme efforts. It is 206 never ending process, assuming perpetual repetition of gained knowledge. At the end the authoress (language teacher at Komorní Hrádek Institute) describes her own experiences with learning foreign language.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the role of conceptional documents as guideposts supporting decision-making process of ministerial top-management. The key role belongs to visions. They reflect various political targets, whereas prognoses represent the prospective image of goals of department in question. The author offers several matrices of assorted components serving for the creation of predicted variants of normative and nonnormative scenarios. This leads to forming concepts, followed by plans and methods of their implementation. It is necessary to respect this outlined principle, so that titles of individual documents would match their real contents. This highly theoretical article is based upon the Research Project MSM002162084 "The Development of the Czech Republic within the EU: Challenges and Risks", Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University Prague.

The Centres of Gravity (COG) are characteristics, capabilities, or localities from which a military force derives its freedom of action, physical strength, or will to fight. The COG belongs among the most important operational concepts. It is the main source of power and strength. Without dermining enemy's COG we are not able to carry out any quick and resolute action, to reach ordered tasks, desired objectives. The primary purpose of this article is to offer basic information about this subject. This first part is concentrated predominantly to Carl von Clausewitz's ideas. The article especially aims on disunity and heterogeneity of comprehension of the COG theory in confrontation with contemporary doctrinal publications and original Clausewitz's theory. It highlights coherences that can affect fulfilling political and military objectives in current and future military operations.

Supported by several historical examples, this article covers the past and contemporary development of both role and organizational structure of the infantry fire teams and squads. Fire team (or fireteam in British English) is an infantry grouping of four or less men (half of a section, GB); or one third of a squad (US). The fire team concept of the U.S. and British Army is shown as an example how to more effectively employ infantry in the all-volunteer military force. The author also shortly mentions Infantry Squad

This book written by Alain C. Enthoven, and K. Wayne Smith, was published some forty years ago, but its leading ideas do not grow old. It is a work of enduring value and listing relevance, this book is both a classic account of the application of powerful ideas to the problem of managing the U.S. Ministry of Defence (DoD) and a cautionary history of the controversies inspired by that successful effort ...206 Defence secretary Robert S. Namara's device was a new system for allocation defence resources, the Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System (PPBS). Most of those decisions are taken as bedrock defence policy today, and the methods have become embedded ad the DoD's approach to defining and resolving issues. According to the author of this article, this book ought to be the inspiration even for our Ministry of Defence in its effort to save restricted means and at the same time to increase Czech military capabilities.

The second part of this short serial deals with the theory of the operational art focusing on the centre of gravity (COG). The article emanates from Carl von Clausewitz's ideas, doctrinal publications analysis and many study projects of the operational art theorists. The author especially aims on disunity and heterogeneity of comprehension of the centre of gravity theory in confrontation of contemporary doctrinal publications and original Clausewitz's theory. He compares operational manuals (those of U.S. and NATO), and finds similarities concerning characteristics, capabilities or localities from which a military force, nation or alliance, derives its freedom of action, physical strength or will to fight. Finally, he himself defines enemy's centre of gravity and highlights coherences that can affect fulfilling political and military objectives in current and future military operations.

The author of this article considers the prospective changes in the development, character, missions and tasks of the Army of the Czech Republic, Those changes are deduced from the changing security environment and long-term development trends. To meet new demands, we must continue in building interoperability and compatibility. The battlefield operations will be planned and controlled by the systems of "Network Centric Warfare" and "Reach Back Operations". It will not be necessary for a commander to be in physical contact with operational theatre. Electronical high speed intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance will enable the high pace of military operations (together with common analyses, integration of collected data, evaluation of enemy's intents and activities). This will enable to build a credible defence, in the frame of collective security system, hand in hand with other NATO allies.