Around the Bloc: Russian Arms Budget Takes U-Turn
Moscow is bucking the world trend toward higher arms spending, but hold that Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
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Moscow is bucking the world trend toward higher arms spending, but hold that Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
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Powerful nerve agent produced in a Czech lab not the same as that used in Skripal poisoning, Czech officials say.
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The authors describe the issue of moral panic in the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine and the way it is reflected in the behavior, opinions, fears, approaches and beliefs of the respondents. The notion is described through the perspective of the moral panic features, enumerated by Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda, such as concerns, disproportionality and volatility. Such approach allows to analyze the cumulated data on people’s reaction in the face of the potential threat they perceive as highly probable. The authors ask what implications moral panic brings for the safety of the country neighboring the area of the conflict.
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Proliferation of ballistic missiles has a strong impact on local military balance and arms race. On the other hand it is difficult to assess this process as both: supplier and end user are usually reluctant to disclose details of the deal or even to confirm it. The very first case of proliferation of missiles and missile technology was a transfer of Nazi Germany’s assets to countries of winning coalition. First ballistic missiles test fired by both superpowers were just German made items. Later a number of countries purchased ballistic missiles and then launched the production of their clones. Consequently more powerful missiles were developed on this base. For developing countries the introduction of ballistic missiles is a simple way of increase of military power and gaining prestige. At the same time the procurement of ballistic missiles by one country often forces its neighbors to look for similar weapons. Furthermore, the introduction of ballistic missiles may extend the “radius of fear” caused by unpredictable/unstable countries and substantially reduce the reaction time in the case of emergency making the world less safe and predictable. An attempt to slow down the process of proliferation of ballistic missiles was made in 1987, when G-7 countries reached an informal political understanding called Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) which bans sale of ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 km with 500 kg of payload. However, MTCR is not a treaty and does not impose any legal obligations on its members. Currently 35 countries decided to follow the rules of MTCR. The presentation of information concerning proliferation and goals of both suppliers and end users should help in the proper understanding of the background of arms race, particularly in developing countries. Comprehensive data about the stocks of ballistic missiles in these countries makes understanding of its ties and activities much easier.
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In the periods of dynamic transformations and changes, they are found in the normative-axiological space (splitting it), translating into various processes of disintegration and inconsistencies. Their particular passage was the inspiration for the creation of this article. The results in the paper come from the author’s own scientific research. The author, specifying the field of considerations, defines the notions of anomie (in this: legal anomie) and impunity (no responsibility), and diagnosed consequences of the outsourcing of military operations. The work is summarized with the qualitative analysis of the research findings. The author used (often confronting different English and Polish-language versions) numerous sources after their critical review. The purpose of the study was to diagnose the consequences of outsourcing of military operations – such as anomia (also: legal anomaly) and impunity (case study). In the analyzed case study, the author pointed out new dimensions of outsourcing relationships in the areas connected with the functioning of political power in the context of the consequences of outsourcing broadly understood (sensu largo) as military activities: knowledge and axiological (shared systems of values and secret knowledge, tacit knowledge), business and human resources (joint advantages of informal interest groups), and executive and teleological.
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In this introductory article to the special issue Women and War in Kurdistan, we connect our topic to feminist theory, to anthropological theory on war and conflict and their long-term consequences, and to theory on gender, nation and (visual) representation. We investigate Kurdish women’s victimisation and marginalisation, but also their resistance and agency as female combatants and women activists, their portrayal by media and scholars, and their self-representation. We offer herewith a critical perspective on militarisation, women’s liberation, and women’s experiences in times of war and peace. We also introduce the five articles in this issue and discuss how they contribute to the study of women and war in two main areas: the wide-reaching effects of war on women’s lives, and the gendered representation and images of war in Kurdistan.
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The author analyzes the forms and the system of defense of a confederal community. He reviews the concept of joint defense by examining the defense functions of the community, the organizing of a system of joint defense and its preparing for the actual carrying out of defense. The system of defense of a confederal community must ensure common as well as individual security to its members.
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Although safety is a basic personal and institutional need, its presence in programmes of Polish political parties is not impressive. We can observe a change in the second decade of the 21st century, but there is no certainty how constant is it. The article aims to present internal security issues in programmes of Polish political parties during the period of the Third Republic and their qualitative analysis.
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In 2009–2017, the European Union continued its prior policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nonetheless, taking into consideration the rapidly changing internal and international situation, this policy is becoming increasingly less effective. Problems confronting the Europe-an Union and its member states over the recent years, Brexit, the destabilization of North Africa and the Middle East, the Ukrainian crisis, the redistribution of power in the world system, to name a few – are the most significant determinants of the current EU policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Compared to other actors, the role of the European Union in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been decreasing.
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The article is devoted to the analysis of different approaches to the definition of “a hybrid war”, the problems of expanding the area where the hybrid wars are conducted. The author concludes that the activity of the states in the construction of national security strategies is based on the necessity of diversification of the instruments and the methods of protecting the state interests, as well as pursuing interests in external policy. Network and information technologies used in the conditions of ongoing hybrid war may pose a threat to the object and the subject of political influence. The problem of hybrid wars requires a deeper methodological and theoretical reflection, justification, conceptualization of the approaches and methods of implementing national security strategies, it also requires the awareness of the external and internal political risk factors during the implementation of hybrid instruments during strategic operations.
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The aim of the article is to present the role of the armed forces in peacebuilding on the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to the relative lack of interest of Polish researchers in building peace, in the first part of the article the author presents the theoretical issues of the discussed problem. Peacebuilding is carried out in the countries that are not stable, which may bring about internal conflicts. The destabilization of a given country may pose a threat to the entire region, which is why it is important to involve international organizations in building peace. It seems that the role of the armed forces seems to be important in the above process. However, the research has shown that the armed forces are not in each case a sufficient tool in the process of building peace.
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After the First World War, emergency powers became an aspect of the everyday political life in Europe, Romania being among those countries where a banalization of the use of these powers took place. The centrality within the public space of the topics concerning the external and inner security of a country that doubled its territory after the world war, the social turmoil caused by economic difficulties, and the rise of radical political movements represented arguments for the state authorities to install the state of siege for long periods of time in interwar Romania. The study aims at analysing the public debates in Romania in a few key moments during the period from 1918-1933, in which the issuance of a legislation dealing with state of siege institutions caused heated disputes between those supporting and those opposing the use of emergency powers.
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The condition of studying of the military intelligentsia is investigated by representatives of humanitarian knowledge of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of the beginning of the 21st century. On materials of works of modern military members of intelligentsia studies the degree of the involvement and interest in a problem of scientific community of Russian Armed Forces, level of demand of works in this direction are considered. An attempt to isolate the subjects of researches most relevant for a modern military intelligentsia studies is made, their perspective vectors are analyzed. Opportunities for implementation of similar researches by scientistshumanists of Russian Armed Forces come to light.
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The article deals with a complex multidimensional phenomenon-conflicts, various types which, interacting, complement each other, gaining new features.
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This paper will study Russian hybrid warfare in Ukraine and especially in Crimea, and analyse its implications on the Black Sea region. Although hybrid warfare is an old concept, theoretical studies of it began in Western countries mainly in the post-Cold War era, focusing on asymmetrical threats against the conventional superiority of Western countries such as the USA. The September 11th attacks and the 2006 Lebanon War played important roles in the evolution of hybrid warfare theories. Studies in Russia on hybrid warfare, which the Russians call “non-linear war,” are based primarily on lessons learned during the Color Revolutions and the Arab Spring. Hybrid warfare emerged as one of the main security issues for the West, and especially for NATO, with the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The Russian military strategies that Western countries called “hybrid warfare” resulted in the successful annexation of Crimea and became a serious security issue for the West. Russian military activities during the Ukrainian crisis and the Russian annexation of Crimea also resulted in important changes in the security of the Black Sea. The crisis intensified the Russian military build-up and the military presence of NATO, especially the USA, in the region, while the Black Sea, which was intended to be a peaceful region, became a stage for a military showdown between NATO and Russia.
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Although Hybrid Warfare is an old concept, theoretical studies in the western countries mainly began in the post-Col War era, focusing on asymmetrical threats against conventional superiority of western countries such as USA or Israel. September 11th attacks and 2006 Israel-Lebanon war played important roles for the evolution of hybrid warfare theories. However, there has not any consensus among scholars on a exact or unique definition of hybrid warfare. Hybrid warfare became one of the main security issues for the West and especially for NATO after the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Russian military strategies, called “hybrid warfare” by the western countries, resulted in the successful annexation of Crimea and, caused a serious security problem for the West resulting important structural and functional changes for the military system of NATO. Russian activities, which have been based on surprise, ambiguity and deniability, presented a unique example for hybrid warfare studies.
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This article analyzes the transformation of NATO from the common defense organization to anti-terrorism in the 2000s. The starting point is the assumption that NATO maintained its survival by transforming rather than disintegrating. The main research question is why NATO has not disintegrated despite the end of the Cold War and how it managed to survive. Three fundamental arguments have been developed: First, NATO continues to exist beyond the post-Cold War breakdown by first taking on the role of crisis management in the 1990s and moving towards the fight against terrorism in the 2000s. Secondly, NATO’s transformation has led to new challenges. Thirdly, the transformation of NATO weakened the US-EU link and has led to the questioning of NATO-Turkey relations on the other.
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Many crises that are occurred in Middle East affect Turkey. There were civil revolts in Middle East which is named as Arabic Spring and Turkey was affected from these anti-regime civil revolts. Last stop of these civil revolts, which are occurred as a result of freedom, democracy and human rights demands of Arabic people, was Syrian Arabic Republic. As a result of strict attitude of Syrian regime to civil revolts and civil war, millions of civilians started to migrate to Turkey. Turkey didn’t send back any one of the Syrian due to the “open door” policy. Therefore, some migration problems occurred in Turkey.
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The impact of technology in military affairs has been always remaining part of discussions over the development history of the war and combat. There are many supporters of the technology or technophiles who argue that technology crucially affects on warfare and war fighting, even on tactics of how to conduct military operations or affecting so much military doctrine. What is more important they support idea of technology has definitely changed the strategy of war. On the other side, there are authors who acknowledge the impact of technology on warfare and it’s ingredients, but they think it is the rightful share of a common evolution of military affairs and this influence is not a decisive factor in winning the war. Despite the interesting an contemporary terms like “Revolution in Military Affairs” (RMA), “Fourth Generation War” (4GW), “Network Centric Warfare (NCW),” hybrid wars “etc., or other terms which are used often to underline technological changes in the strategic field, this article will argue these differences do not justify some new approaches to the role of technology in war. Although it must be admitted that the impact of technology has a particular role and use of technological advantages brought very positive results in the battle-field, the technology is not the determining factor for winning or losing the war. If there is a decisive factor that leads to the victory of the war, this has been and sill is the human factor.
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Since the establishment of the independent Slovak Republic, the share of the armed forces in the fulfillment of the tasks of the national crisis management has been permanently changed and re-evaluated. Focusing the attention of the top management of the Ministry of Defense only on the issue of defending against the external environment caused the problem by what forces and means to replace the departments that had been designated for the protection of the population. The allocation of a share of the forces and resources of almost all units of the armed forces in their current geographical deployment has not been and is not a relevant solution in relation to the current security challenges. In the present study, the Department of Defense proposed a reorganization and redisposal of selected forces of the armed forces that have a major impact on national crisis management operations. The effectiveness of the participation of the armed forces in the structure of the Integrated Rescue System of the Slovak Republic was examined in its quantitative and qualitative scope. The results of the analyzes confirm that under the conditions of the Ministry of Defense it is necessary to take fundamental measures in the dislocation of the units and facilities depending on the location of the potential threats and risks for the population. In the study, the share of the armed forces in national crisis management operations is based on a proposal to effectively deploy only a portion of the force and resources of the Ministry of Defense, and other departments and facilities allow it to concentrate fully on defense against military threats from the external environment of the state. By implementing the dislocation changes of selected units of the armed forces, according to the present proposal, the efficiency and effectiveness of not only the armed forces itself but also of the integrated rescue system as a whole is greatly enhanced.
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