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The results of American foreign, security, defence and military policies are ambiguous. The war in Iraq ends, troops are going to leave both Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama was held up in Arab spring. He tried to improve relations with Russia. The centre of gravity was moved to the Pacific area, which got complicated ties with People's China. He didn't succeed in solving troubles with nuclear programme in Iran. His moderate success in foreign policy was the consequence of his concentration on home politics, health care reform, economy and financial crises. At the end the essay evaluates the Chicago summit that among others officially affirmed that NATO activities in Afghanistan would be concluded by 2014 and declared the so-called smart defence.

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

At first, we are familiarised with terms of extremism, Romanies (Gypsies), anarchists, neo-Nazis, then the author introduces possible picture of security situation at the turn of second and third decades of 21st century. He believes that in every country there is a limited ability to integrate ethnic groups by majority. As soon as the limits are exceeded, problems begin. His scenario ends with a pessimistic vision: increasing tensions will ask army deployment, but even local armed forces are not able to enforce law and order, therefore the government must ask for help neighbouring states.

This operation was led by Germany, and made up of elements contributed by twenty EU nations; as well as Turkey and Switzerland. The EU deployed FHQ in Kinshasa and simultaneously kept the over-the-horizon force in Gabon, in order to ensure a deterrent capacity and to avoid unnecessary heavy military presence in Kinshasa. After Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EUFOR RD Congo was a second EU largest military operation, involving a total of almost 3,000 soldiers and officers). The co-operation with MONUC was decisive in containing the potential spread of violence at a particularly sensitive moment in the election process. The operation demonstrated the EU ability to successfully conduct medium scale autonomous multinational operations within a planned time frame under the UN mandate. 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.

Contemporary International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is the law of armed conflict or law of war and their effects. The goal of IHL is to limit the effects of warfare on people and property and to protect particularly vulnerable persons. The IHL does not exclude war activities as it acknowledges the principle of the so-called war necessity. Humanitarian law is the branch of public international law that comprises the rules, which, in times of armed conflict, seek to protect persons who are not or are no longer taking part in the hostilities, restrict the methods and means of warfare employed, and resolve matters of humanitarian concern resulting from war. This article is intended to help to soldiers to understand better IHL rules and principles.

In the previous Military Review we introduced the article "Will Military Deception Pass Away?" by the same author. In the Army of the Czech Republic we have no manual dealing with military deception (MILDEC). The only manual concerning MILDEC was abolished without any substitute. But military art can't be further developed without similar documents. Today we take MILDEC as a complex set of provisions misleading enemy's commanders and staff, by means of false information and counterfeit data that deliberately deceive adversary decision-makers and planners. Use of MILDEC during any phase of an operation also helps to mislead adversaries as to the strength, readiness, locations, and intended missions of friendly forces. The MILDEC could contribute to the successful accomplishment of the assigned mission by many ways.

With the running changes in methods of modern operations within NATO framework, there are also changes in demands and tasks in the scope of civil-military operations-CIMIC. They are incorporated in many documents, such as the Comprehensive Political Guidance, New Concept of Civil-Military Cooperation or Field Manual 3-07 Stability Operations. The CIMIC capacities ought to be used for active impact on impending security situation, crisis development, impact implemented more sooner then crises might escalate to conflicts, eventually they could be used to halt the conflicts, in the places where they are a threat to Alliance security. We must create new rules of co-operations between civil and military sections, with the use of Alliance materials, resources and documents from conferences, seminars and field working shops. Today we have also abundant experiences that the Army of the Czech Republic, its CIMIC section, have acquired in preceding ten years.

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.

There are two great interpreters of the Napoleonic experience, Jomini and Clausewitz. Both were interested in the application of military force to achieve political goals. The article familiarizes readers with Jomini's theoretical fundamentals of operational design elements, namely the lines of operations. Jomini left a great mark on the details of strategic planning: campaign planning, the selection of the theatre of operation, the base of operation, the line of operation, and decisive points. At the end of this process of selection was the final deployment for the decisive battle. Jomini's major contribution, then, was to provide the geometry of the battle space. In his investigation of the nature of war he developed several key operational concepts. As an operational art tools they help the commander and staff to visualize the arrangement of military capabilities in time, space, and purpose to accomplish the mission. The concept of operational lines is evolved in all operational functions in terms of ongoing military missions.

The new American doctrinal document called National Security Strategy (NSS 2010) was released in May 2010. Generally, NSS documents outline major national security concerns and plans. The NSS 2010 lays out a strategic approach for advancing American interests, including the security of the American people, growing U.S. economy, and international order that can address 21st century challenges. President Obama is stressing global leadership, dependent on strong and responsible American leadership directing it to ensure other nations follow. He urged Americans to revitalize their own economic, moral and innovative strength to continue to lead the world. The essay by Mr. Eichler is divided into two parts: first one deals with Bush's security policy, and second one deals with documents issued during Obama's presidency. There is a departure from Bush's security strategy that had led to two asymmetric wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are interesting nuances. The NSS 2010 for example declares the intention to build deeper and more effective partnerships with key centres of influence-including China, India, which represents among others Obama's retreat from policy of unilateralism.

International humanitarian law hinges on the principle of the distinction between combatants, whose function is to conduct hostilities during armed confl ict, and civilians, who are presumed not to be directly participating in the hostilities and, therefore, entitled to full protection from attack. They lose this protection only if, and for as long as they "directly participate in hostilities". After several years of expert discussions and research, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has published the Interpretive Guidance, which aims to clarify the meaning and consequences of direct participation in hostilities under international humanitarian law (IHL). This article is devoted to the explanation of this notion. The presented interpretation follows the Interpretative Guidance published this year.

Attributes and quality of the security system of the Czech Republic depend on the quality of human potential, which is part of institutions to guarantee security in the broadest sense of the word. The preparation of the staff of each part of the security system, as defined in the Security Strategy of the Czech Republic (2011), is performed in universities, colleges, and middle schools, training facilities, scientific research facilities and by employers. The capacity of educational institutions, in effect exceeds requirements of practice. The coordination of their activities and the content of education are managed by twelve-year-old conceptual document that has been in need of updating. This paper discusses those aspects and points out directions and ideas for addressing of some problems of current practice, and also some of the challenges of the future.

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.

This paper is above all a quick piece of information on current problem which could have provoked a large war in the Middle East. And also about a unique operation to resolve it. Syrian chemical weapons used to be a serious threat to the entire Middle East, mainly in the context of the ongoing civil war. This was confirmed by repeated use of nerve agent sarin during the conflict. The destruction of Syrian chemical weapons eliminated the threat of escalation of the conflict and its extension to other countries.

This specialised article deals with Big Data and the exploitation of this current day phenomenon in the field of intelligence disciplines, based on technical methods of data gathering and its relevant assessments. The introduction deals with the issue of development of the security environment and gives general overview on the current trends in the field of technical branches. The following chapter analyses the main trends, especially the digitalisation of the battlefield, rise in data volume and the development of new technologies. The next chapter is focused on the basic terminology description of the Big Data issue, which leads into final assessment and certain prediction of future development in this field and the rise of importance of this trend for the intelligence disciplines in future.

The article deals with the reasons why NATO is interested in energy security and main tasks which Alliance fulfils in this area. A special attention is paid to the energy dependence of the European member states of the Alliance, the increase of awareness about energy security, critical energy infrastructure protection and energy efficiency in the armed forces. The author elaborates the implementation of the energy security issues into the Alliance main activities, education and training in the field of energy security and cooperation with partner countries, other international organizations and private sector.

The article is available only in the Czech language. For more information please contact editors.

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 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 Russian armed forces are influenced by a new concept of possible armed conflict. At present, Russian forces are not preparing themselves to one massive conflict, as in the period of bi-polar world, but the main stress is put on power-projection, into the spheres of Russian interests, i. e. into post-soviet republics. The Russian armed forces ought to be able partake in three regional conflicts simultaneously. That's why organizational and technological changes are presently in motion. The acquisition of French first Mistral-class vessels is an organic part of this process. The theme is particularly topical in the context of the current Ukrainian crisis.

The article introduces a variant of alternative accoutrements provided to the soldiers of the Army of the Czech Republic to replenish and compensate individual standardized items. The article proposes changes in furnishing soldiers, so that they would take into account their individual occupational specialities and predominant types of used military uniforms. Even though the authors use a simplified model in this paper, the final version of accoutrement modification represents the updating of the current law regulations.

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

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.

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 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.

Příspěvek se zabývá vybranými bezpečnostními aspekty námořních hraničních linií Státu Izrael. V krátkosti vymezuje současnou organizaci izraelského válečného námořnictva a jeho vybavení pro zabezpečování izraelské svrchovanosti proti hrozbám přicházejícím z moře, včetně zadržovacích operací vedoucích k zabránění šíření zbraní do rukou protiizraelských teroristických organizací. V souvislosti s izraelskou námořní blokádou pásma Gazy je komentována legitimita takového kroku a mezinárodněpolitické konsekvence jejího vynucování. Ekonomické souvislosti přetrvávajících problémů stran izraelské námořní hranice jsou evidentní na příkladu sporu o právo k využití podmořských nalezišť plynu.

The article deals with some aspects of applied theory of operational art within the operations planning process. It discusses the area of operational design concepts and suggests possible ways of this theory application in the process of operational approach development. The described theory is a sequel to the article published in this Military Review No. 1/2014.

Changing security environment and the need to address conventional and especially asymmetric threats and risks, wherever they occur, establish clear requirements on the development of national capabilities. Armed forces are required to be fully deployable and sustainable in operations in austere conditions for an extended period of time. In NATO-led operations currently participate many nations of different sizes, force structures, equipment, training and capabilities. The only way to reach operational goals while achieving economies of scale is a mutual cooperation of all involved participants. Basic key prerequisite for such cooperation is interoperability.

The article informs about methods and ways of maintenance and repairing military equipment, armament, materiel, for the duration of UN international missions. It depicts the whole system, including personnel duties during maintenance and recovery of materiel in the areas of United Nations peacekeeping operations. Further it explains some maintenance rules and activities done while scheduling the maintenance and repairing scheme, as well as contracted services.

The article identifies specific attributes which have influenced success of modern warfare conducted by infantry battalions and their sub-units. There are mentioned ways to suppress the negatives and opportunities to use positives. There is drafted a possible task organization structure of battalion which allows the variability, modularity and combat readiness, according to capabilities and statements catalogue. The author was inspired by his own experiences as an infantry unit commander. He uses his knowledge gained from military assignments. The article could be considered as topic for future discussions not only on academic but also on specialized level.