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The security environment is permanently changing. A national set of risks has increased after joining the EU and NATO and EU enlargement. The Czech Republic is obligated to integrate national security capabilities into NATO and the EU. To fulfil its responsibility, the Czech Republic ought to use the capabilities-based planning for further transformation of national security sector. This NATO concept ought to be in use not only within the MoD, but also at other ministries tied or responsible for national security. The national security sector must be planed, programmed, budgeted and transformed like a body. The article deals with the problem of unifying security concepts across Czech public administration. The author points out that our operational capabilities are influenced among others by the lack of labour force at the Czech national labour market.

Its own nuclear program is an important instrument of Iran's domestic and foreign policy. In foreign policy it is used for promotion of its regional interests and it also serves as a guarantee against foreign actor's interference in Iranian domestic affairs. So far, the negotiations between Iran and the international community have not brought about any tangible results. Among other reasons, there are different expectations of both parties. The international community is ready to lift sanctions, supposing Iran accepts the UN resolutions. Iran, by contrast, demands to be recognized as an internationally recognized regional power, with legitimate rights and interests.

NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) is a subject of quite frequent reviews and amendments in order to meet the needs of NATO as an organization and of each Ally. The current initiative, based on a tasking from the Chicago summit in May 2012, is referred to as "Enhancing the NDPP". It particularly aims at making the NDPP more relevant to national defence planning and more visible at political level. More emphasis is also placed on timely consultations among Allies whenever they intend to make significant changes in their defence inventories and capabilities. Recently approved NATO Defence Planning Capability Targets (June 2013) previously known as Force Goals, are for the first time affected by application of the so-called "50% planning assumption" which aims to redress the burden-sharing imbalance between the US and other Allies.

The article is an analysis of the further development of mechanized battalions of Czech forces (ACR). The defence department will have to take a major decision how to replace old tracked infantry combat vehicles (ICVs) BVP-2. Several years ago, it was decided to acquire those vehicles for one brigade, so the best option could be to keep this project on. The acquisition and simultaneous operations of two similar vehicles, wheeled and tracked ones, are not effective for forces of ACR size. The extra costs of operation would not produce an adequate increase in capabilities of mechanized units. The author presents dozens of arguments to support this conclusion and at the end he makes recommendations for the future acquisition strategy in Czech defence department.

The paper briefly identified the long-time objectives of overall geospatial support. Based on that, ways ahead to achieve main aims are described. Special attention is paid to software platform for geospatial production, cooperation with civilian and international partners, legal aspects, R&D as well as mobile sets intended usage.

The article deals with some aspects of military art in connection with the forthcoming Doctrine of the Army of the Czech Republic. Its aim is to contribute to discussion on the issue of operational art and highlight the major benefits in military terminology. The author describes some specific doctrinal terms and briefly suggests their possible application during the planning and conduct of military operations.

The polemic by Mr. Luboš Dobrovský in his essay in Military Review, No. 2, 2013, is based upon a critical idea that even though the Czech government approved conclusions and goals set by the White Paper on Defence, the MoD and the General Staff began to fulfil their duties, the government did not carry out its obligations. The author came to the same conclusion same time ago. But he didn't agree with the proposition that the army in a state of emergency. Such a verdict is rather exaggerating, the author believes, as Czech defence department is still able to fulfil both its Alliance commitments, missions abroad, or home assignments, e.g. support to integrated rescue system. What's missing is a critical reflection over economical management. Data, numbers, and facts are attached.

The control of emergency economic measures, namely state material reserves, is an important part of Czech security system. From the institutional point of view, all is run under the authority of a central institution-the Administration of State Material Reserves (ASMR). This paper deals with its role in the management of state material reserves, reflects problems and consequences resulting from the changes in security surrounding, re-evaluates opinions and views both by experts of state administrations and academic community. Those are the main key questions the study seeks an answer.

This article presents a case study dealing with the system of logistical support at Kyjov town. This kind of support demands a full evacuation of all citizens, ensuring emergency housing and sustenance both deployed persons from integrated rescue corps and evacuated persons. The result of this study is a proposal to update the crisis plan of Kyjov.

The classification of a term of "decontamination" comes out not only from the Alliance norms, national military regulations and publications, but also from the documents that deal with the conception of decontamination for civilian purposes, i.e. from documents of the Fire Rescue Brigades of the Czech Republic. The study of both Alliance and national documents has proved that in many cases this term is being introduced in a different way which might cause not very homogenous interpretation and understanding to accomplished decontamination measurements and thus even overall disunity in a framework not only of Alliance, but also in selected basic and other parts of the Integrated Rescue System of the Czech Republic. The paper analyses approaches to the term of "decontamination"practically only by means of definitions in use nowadays. At the end of this document there are recommendations which ought be considered by the management of the Czech Armed Forces Chemical Corps within the area of its respective interest.

This article is primarily engaged in the analysis of existing situation in the area of securing outfit components and in the assessment of the level of support provided to women and men working in the Czech Army. It evaluates the current state of supplying the soldiers with all necessary outfits in compliance with the current legislation and the way of its actual implementation. It analyses the current legislation and the possibilities of distribution of uniforms to their end users. The assessment primarily addresses the fulfilment of objectives for which the distribution system of uniforms was established.

The article follows the leading theme of the Czech Military Review No. 2/2013 dealing with the application White Paper on Defence 2011. Both authors are members of the Lifelong Learning Department, Defence University, Brno. Backed by long experiences in military professional education and training, they present their views on advantages and disadvantages of the current model of officers' professional preparation, particularly senior officers. The authors' aim is to arouse a constructive debate about the changes in the current model of senior officers' career education. Their views are based upon history examples and models of some selected NATO nations.

This article deals with the involvement of military members of the Czech Army within peacekeeping operations as military observers. It discusses the core of the command and control of peacekeeping operations under the heading of the United Nations. It is focused on the role of military observers and the peculiarities of their tasks, based on the historical development. The special attention is dedicated to selection criteria and requirements for the selection of military observers. The candidates have to be flexible persons with comprehensive educational background. In the conclusion, the author opens the possibility to continue with the theme of military observers by means of a subsequent article based on personal experiences.

At the time of forming the team around a designated defence minister Alexander Vondra, in the early summer 2010, there was no doubt that we need a complex concept document, able to analyze and describe the then situation, to readjust directions and goals for defence department, so that it could stimulate the follow-up transformation of Czech Army. The author, who used to be one of the leading Defence Ministry officials, thus made use of his experiences he gained in NATO structures. He gives an apt, well-founded, and first hand description of key points of this very fresh military history.

The purpose of this text is not a systematic description of preparation, confirmation and implementation of Defence White Paper, nor overall evaluation of its assets or failures. It only wants to draw your attentions to several problem factors that have got complicated the preparing of strategical documents in the field of defence and security in the Czech Republic and in fact they do not allow to form predictable surroundings for defence planning.

The defence of air area was always of vitally importance, both for fighting off an aggressor or enforcing our own goals in offensive operations. The article deals only with one of "pillars" of air defence (AD), namely by active means of its land elements. We do not deal with active elements of flying segments, reconnaissance means and command and control systems of Air Force. The authors not only recapitulate the development of active means of land AD elements on the territory of the Czech Republic with the emphasis on the past 20 years, but at the same time they would like to highlight the importance of this arms for effective country defence.

The article analyzes several key conclusions of US National Intelligence Council's study "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds", published in December 2012. Primarily it focuses on: the diffusion of global power influencing political, economic and security development on both global and regional scales; rising importance of the Asia-Pacific region for global economy and security; Sino-American security relations; the role that the United States and Europe should be played in the changing geopolitical reality. The conclusions offer the author's own interpretation of certain development trajectories, based on his earlier published monographs, studies and articles.

The prerequisite of effectivity of people training for the emergencies lies on their timely and high-guality preparation. At present, in the Czech Republic, we prepare defence-training concept for school youth protection under normal risks or emergencies. But it was only in the school year 2012-2013 that more conceptually comprehensive preparation has been introduced, of more binding character, at least in elementary schools, because after the abolition of Act on Military Education in 1991, this sort of preparation is not supported by a special law.

During the first half of 2010, many Internet sites in the Czech Republic and abroad published a number of alarming articles about the platform, called the European Gendarmerie Force (EUROGENDFOR, EGF). Their authors refer to this unit as the basis for a new "Holy Alliance", when the gendarmerie from one member state will be going to suppress unrests in another member state - if the local task forces refuse to do so. This paper is trying to correct such speculations and summarizes available information about the respective unit.

This article deals with new methods able to establish the change of initial projectile velocity, caused by barrel attrition within the artillery of the Army of the Czech Republic. After the evaluation of current situation with the use of the device for measuring the loading depth, this article recommends to implement the muzzle velocity sensor or to establish the change of initial projectile velocity, caused by barrel attrition, taking into account and using the clarifying correction.

The aim of this article is to provide comparison of the main indicators of military power among the individual EU countries, between the EU in total and the U.S., and the comparison of the world's biggest military powers. Current evolvement of changes in military power indicates the shift of the centre of gravity aiming prevailingly eastward towards raising and growing economical powers. Due to the differences of various input data, multiple information sources used for comparison are significantly different. In addition, it is difficult to get them for some isolated countries, the results of which are sometimes only estimated. The study also includes information on the main importers and exporters of the military equipment, as well as the estimation of future trends.

The author explains some terms being neglected in the last few years. War is one of many ways for implementing policy, but actually it is self-breeding and at the same time its own last source. The hypertrophy of available means for warfare creates the atrophy of its functions and consequently even its reason. War is still an extreme choice, bringing about the danger of total devastation of humane environment. It's strange that environmentalists do not put their protests to this centre of gravity. On the contrary, many of them regard wars as natural thing, originated in the very nature of humane dispositions. It has its source probably in the fact that there is no self-contained theory dealing with war and peace, the so-called paxology-the theory how peace can be maintained in the world.

In 2007 and 2010, this Czech Military Review Vojenské rozhledy published several articles, discussing analytical thinking and analytical methodologies in the field of military intelligence. The authors among others mentioned the methodology ACH, Analysis of Competing Hypotheses. The methodology is not suitable only for intelligence, but it can be used further for solving a variety of military decision-making problems. The article in its first part describes ACH philosophy, including some academic considerations both by supporters and critics to this methodology. The second part demonstrates an example of its implementation and usage during support other problems tied with decision-making in defence planning process. The method is simple to explain, but difficult to introduce to real practice. The article explains both the theory and modifications of ACH and underlines some pitfalls connected with putting methodology into practice.

The basic orientation in the field of military art demands at least elementary knowledge of military history and understanding to military strategy influence on the art of war. The questions tied to understanding military strategy and its influence on the preparation and conducting military operations are part of study programmes of all life education at the Defence University. The purpose of this article, dedicated to military strategy problems, is deeper understanding to its basic connections, understanding a direction the strategy took in a designated period and its development. I ought to explain in short its role and attitude towards the nature of military operations.

The article deals with using of simulation technology for training commanders and staffs in new types of operations. It summaries the overall development in the area, occurred since the establishment of the Center of Simulation and Training Technologies. There are presented turning points in training on simulators, i. e. requirements for combat in urban area, special operations of small units, of ground forces interaction with supporting units, the use of command and control systems and the cooperation between the military and rescue workers. It also points to the new requirements in the fields of training and shows possible ways of their solution. The second part deals with problems of NEC and its implementation into simulation systems. The article presents the results of SIMNEC defence research and its contribution to the future expansion of the capabilities of tactical simulator.

In this article the author thinks over one of many variants the mortar units could be deployed into battalion combat task forces to support developing operations. It is a process of gradual compatibility with the units of North Atlantic Alliance and modernizing mortar weapons system with regard to prospective personnel reductions. It is important for joint commanders to be familiar with this kind of combat support, so that they could use it effectively in land operations.