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Europe is a maritime continent whose economic concerns and security could be backed only by the power of navy forces. The Czech Republic is not a maritime state, but it is a member country of both NATO and the EU, it participates in the formation of common security policy. Czech soldiers could take part in combined joint military operations, where one of forces is also a Navy. Dozens of Czech citizens are employed in common international institutes and staffs; they all need a broader view, including the knowledge of Integrated European Naval Strategy. Their activities promote the status of the Czech Republic at international level.
This contribution contextually explores European space and its naval power. It introduces naval forces projection of European national navies, the bulk of which best respond to current security issues, along with decisions of the national governments of the EU and NATO member states. The article also dedicates extensive attention to the Russian naval strategy.

The text deals with the use of border defense as a means of protection against guerrilla attacks and infiltration, through a combination of principles of modern stationary fortifications and forward area defense. These are discussed on the case study of the Northern Border Security Project of Saudi Arabia. The role of attacker takes quasi-state formation the Islamic State (IS, ISIS, ISIL). The aim is to analyze whether the project would endure distinctive types of asymmetric attacks. Vulnerability prioritization for each component determines the most likely targets and their characteristics. This is a subjective semi quantitative method known as CARVER matrix. Subsequently, based on established premises, the text discusses three selected scenarios that use guerrilla tactics with elements of terrorism against selected targets. Attack scenarios show some of the possible ways of improvement for the project. In conclusion, the author makes recommendations for possible adjustments and assess the potential of using the project as a protection against asymmetric attacks. After reading the text, the reader is informed about the project, its components, as well as recommendations that can be applied in the further use of this type of defense.

Presented text mainly deals with the issue of long-term planning in the department of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) of the Czech Republic. The issue is discussed at many levels, taking into account economic and other operational factors that are very important for adequate functioning of the department. Attention is focused both on theoretical considerations, and practical implications of proper planning.

This article contains the essence of the modular part of an automated artillery fire control system, which will enable automated detection of artillery ammunition ballistic characteristics using barcodes placed on missiles and cartridges. The article describes the current state of evidence of artillery ammunition ballistic characteristics, presents possible approaches to the concept of evidence of artillery ammunition ballistic characteristics using barcodes, defines the framework requirements for the automation of this part of artillery fire ballistics preparation, describes the determination of the distance individual corrections resulting from the artillery ammunition ballistic characteristics and states possible ways to automated processing overview of artillery ammunition carried by the conveyors of missiles and cartridges.

The article describes CBRN EOD capability, which is one of the developed areas within the scope of the Czech Armed Forces Chemical Corps. It depicts CBRN EOD in the context of operational use of chemical troops, introduces an option of appropriate task force and mentions basic operational requirements to ensure safe proceeding at the incident site. It highlights the importance of common training and interoperability amongst participating units. The article derives from NATO written sources, national operational procedures and expert views of interested persons.

Presented analysis of interviews with officers at various level of command from 2004 - 2008 is aimed on their view of the process of command. On the basis of qualitative research we consider the recent way of command of the Czech officers intuitive and individual. It characterizes most common way to command, based just on experience. We consider differentiation in the way of leading and motivation of subordinates among types of forces and military specializations. The reflection of the professionalization, the training system, the perception of learned/natural ability to command and their career is offered to discussion in the context of changes in direction of education of Czech officers and commanders.

The topic of this essay is an insight into the interrelations of the economic analysis of armed conflict. The author tries to explain its substance and importance and at the same time he warns against the difficulties with its implementation. Backed by several studies, we must conclude that there is a lot of confusion in terminology we use. It is therefore proposed to apply cost-benefit analysis, so that we could create a unified terminology and simultaneously to use this analysis to present armed conflict economy in terms of overall expenses vs. likely benefits aroused by respective armed warfare.

Following article deals with the Kurdish diaspora in Middle-Europe at the background of current conflict with so called Islamic State. Kurds are one of the main actors of this strong regional conflict and their diaspora in Germany and Austria are forced to react to such a situation. The text is focused not only on actual situation in Syria and Iraq, but mainly on Kurdish reaction towards it. Not only for Czech reader there is interesting part dealing with Kurdish community in Czech Republic, although this diaspora is not as numerous and strong as in Germany or Austria. One of the important outcomes of the article is an attempt to predict future scenarios of Kurds situation development. But it is necessary to mention the high dynamics of conflict with Islamic State complicates any such an attempt of prediction.

There has never been so much primary data on al-Qa'ida publicly available. Nevertheless primary data are still not used enough, despite the fact that their omission had a clearly detrimental effect on the quality of research on al-Qa'ida. The article's goal is twofold: to lay out an overview of the publicly available sources of primary data on al-Qa'ida and by highlighting interesting aspects of their content to demonstrate their usefulness for the research in general. The article deals particularly with outputs of public institutions, al-Qa'ida's members' publications, al-Qa'ida's members' communication that has been made public and leaked classified information. The topic how to use the sources of primary data will be discussed briefly. The article aims at encouraging the academic and expert community to use primary data more broadly when researching al-Qa'ida.

The article focuses on the current use of NATO logistics information systems in the NATO Defense Planning Process and the Operations Planning Process in the area of logistics. Information support is provided through the logistics information systems of LOGFAS (Logistics Functional Area Services), which generate the necessary information environment through various software tools. In order to improve future logistics information support, NATO is concurrently preparing a modernization of the existing information environment by the development of the LOG FS projects. In the future, those projects are expected to replace the existing information systems in order to optimize information support, deliver new features and to facilitate the coordination of logistic operations within the NATO integrated command and control network.

The article analyses the Host Nation Support (HNS) planning process in five separate phases according to the NATO procedures. The author emphasizes the importance, purpose and result of every planning stage. The main objective of the article is to apply general rules to the concrete examples of international air forces exercises. The author further identifies his comprehension of HNS formed in the specific conditions of the 22th Helicopter Base. The logistic planning process analysis is based on the experience from exercises Ramstein Rover and Ample Strike held in the period of 2012-2014. The paper is focused on exercises preparatory stages that create the basis for a successful accomplishment of the executive part. The results of the article present the trend of planning responsibility delegation to the tactical level and define the specifics of adapted planning process. The author's contribution may be used as a lead for the future application of the HNS concept.

This article tries to analyse the employees of central state administration, who are involved in analytical, conception, planning and strategy activities. We organized a research at eleven ministries in 2013, to familiarize themselves with their roles. Only three ministries refused to take part in this research (home office, regional development ministry and agriculture ministry). The results reached describe how examined groups evaluated various factors influencing their analytic and conception performances. The identified state at the Defence Ministry is compared with overall situations at other ministries of the Czech Republic. At the end of this article the author expresses certain suggestions and recommendations how to improve current state of affairs.

The article deals with the international context of the latent war in Ukraine. It explains the recent history of the post-Soviet area in the light of Galutng's theory of positive and negative peace. It continues by the annexation of the Crimean peninsula and its international consequences. At the same time, it examines key features of the debate in the USA as well as other NATO countries. It focuses also the debate about the livraison of arms to the Ukrainian government and explains the arguments of proponents as well of the opponents of this controversial project.

The article deals with correlation of strategy and operational art. The aim of the article is to point on deficit of relationship between political decision-making and military planning. The first part of the article simply introduces doctrinal tools of operational art, applicable at both the operational and strategic level. The second part refers to the fact that application of some standard elements of operational art in terms of overall strategic framework loses partly importance because of their use in the context of unconventional conflict has been less appropriate. The third part deals with criticism of the mutual undesirable separation of politicians and military professionals involved in operations planning. Conclusion of the article offers possible solutions of this deficit.

The main goal of the article is to present the activities of members of the Slovak Armed Forces in the military operation ISAF and familiarize the reader with the main facts involving the Slovak Republic as a member of the Alliance in this operation. The text outlines the genesis of the ISAF and structure of the components of the Slovak contingent. SAF members during their tenure at ISAF gain valuable experiences that make up their professional competence and achieve greater compatibility with other members of the Alliance. In conclusion, the most important awards are presented by the coalition partners for professional use, so competence and commitment of the SAF to assist and defend basic human rights and freedom of the Afghan people, to help them take responsibility for themselves and their country.

This text is focused on current situation in Syria and Iraq and so called Islamic State, the one of the biggest threats of contemporary world. The rise of this quasi­state at background of civil war in Syria and still not fully solved conflict in Iraq is the result of involvement of many internal and external actors. The form of their involvement and especially their goals are very different from each other and despite sporadic and declaratory agreements in partial points the main reason the Islamic State still exists in very good shape is disunited attitude of local and external powers against it. The main aim of this text is to explain and to analyze main motives and goals of all relevant actors and sides of mentioned conflict and describe the way they affect its dynamics. Due to that it is possible to increase the knowledge of readers in such a chaotic, unclear and often misinterpreted situation in the Middle-East.

The article deals with the integration of outside resources into the process of support Forces in Military operations. The crux of this work lies in the illustration of 'place' and the role of Civil Contracting Supports in the Combat Service system of Armed Forces. It also accentuates the sense and complexity of Combat Service Support. The article analyses the advantages. disadvantages and risks for utilizating Civil Contractors in armed conflicts. The text respects this and acknowledges the benefit from experience of the NATO Armies in this field. In the closing part the authors formulate recommendations for the later boom of 'Combat Service' theory and practice. The effect and benefit of this article lies first of all in its suggestion of criteria for the selection of contractors.

The article deals with the development of the security system since the November 1989 events. Special attention is paid to the situation near the year 2005, when the last opportunity to update a comprehensive concept of security system occurred. The text deals with the comprehensive management of the security system issue. The authors of the article present key events and strategic documents forming the current shape of the Czech security system. In the final part of article, you can find the proposal of the strategic document management system within the security development system. Article results in the knowledge that the modern security system concept is still challenge for us.

During the Arab Spring Revolution, when the protests against the Syrian government began in 2011, Russia was one of the strongest backers of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, backing its right to use force if necessary to prevent or put down an uprising. Currently, the Russian Federation is the power which has most prominently provided a diplomaticshieldforthe Syrian state and bolstered it witharms supplies, although Moscow talks about the need to "balance" between the warring parties in Syria. The main aim of this paper is to analyze the motives of the foreign and security policy of the Russian Federation in support of Syrian President BasharAssad in the background of Russian interests and influence of norms. At the theoretical level, the paper builds upon a combination of conventional constructivism and rationalism approaches, which in relation to the motives of Russian protection and defense of the ruling regime in Syria reflects a number of fundamental knowledge.

The Czech Armed Forces' professionalization is an underlying qualitative change and its realization is not without risks. This paper outlines the political origin of this phenomenon, characterises the coherence with the transformation of the Alliance and illustrates overseas experience with some recruitment problems, namely the NCOs, the limits of women in the armed forces, the role of voluntary reserve force, and the substantiations for compulsory military service generally. The purpose of this essay is to draw attention to less known pitfalls of this process, with wide connexions, going beyond regular professionalization frames, defined as a task carried out by the military personnel department.

One of the objectives of the project for organization development titled "Trends in development the Armed Forces of Czech Republic in relation to the development of the security environment", is to identify trends in career management and life-long education in the MoD. The article presents partial findings of the substudy focused at proper use of management methods to execute primary data collection and to construct complete problem formulation for both preparation and implementation of Career Order as a part of human resources management in the Ministry of Defense. There is summary of methods and tools used for problems formulation in the first part, the second part shows how these methods are applied in practice. Based on results, the conclusion is then formulated depicting the primary problem of preparation and implementation of the career system.

All-inclusive attitude of NATO forces assumes that conflict can't be solved only by military means. This shift from purely soldierly level to political brought around numbers of Alliance activities at Strategical and Operational Commands. The common denominator was the philosophy of complex approach in operational thinking, planning, and implementing NATO activities. As a result the operational SACEUR's directive GOP was substituted by its revised successor-the so-called Comprehensive Operations Planning Directive (COPD). It is going to be introduced in 2011 and will influence groups and military persons at all levels of warfare, dealing with operational planning and operational art for art's sake. The article familiarizes readers with this directive (COPD) as a tool for comprehensive approach to operations. The COPD offers more deliberate and inclusive planning procedures that allow for both military and non-military actors broader understanding of operational environment and better cooperation in their common effort.

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

The fire support is an inevitable prerequisite for the success of combat forces in land military operations and artillery is its key provider. Will it be even in a future complex and uncertain operating environment? The article recalls high requirements on the current ACR artillery and with the use of the Alliance partner's findings, it points to selected aspects that might influence its capabilities development towards the future operations. The article defines artillery as an indirect fire system and clarifies its role and tasks in the framework of joint fire support. It proposes measures to increase the quality of its training and management. It discusses the issue of an operational concept and its importance for the future ACR artillery, together with introducing main trends in areas of its potential development.

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.

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.

NATO has been permanently adapting to new outside and inside challenges. Lisbon summit in 2010 is one of the very important milestones in this transformation endeavour. Since 2010, the Alliance has embarked on meaningful structural reforms with the aim to enhance effectiveness, improve efficiency of all NATO entities and make the Alliance fit for its purpose. The main objective of this article is to introduce the scope of NATO reforms and their expected outcomes. Furthermore, this article will assess real achievements and draw at least some lessons from a reform implementation process in order to establish best practice in reforming complex organisations.

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

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