Articles
NEW OPERATING CONCEPTS OF THE US ARMED FORCES AND PERSPECTIVES OF THEIR APPLICATION
The article deals with the circumstances of the development and implementation of new operational concepts for the use of the United States Armed Forces. The first objective is to define theoretically the issue of the so-called Global Commons, taking into account the capability of troops in operations, to secure or prevent access to these areas. The second objective is to analyse the background of the AirSea Battle concept, to clarify the essence of its specific focus on China, as well as the countermeasures of this major power toward the United States. The third objective is to clarify the circumstances leading to the rapid replacement of this concept with a new concept, the Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons, using a much wider range of capabilities of the United States Armed Forces. Finally, the article focuses on the implications of the new concept not only from the point of view of the United States but also of the Allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
RESILIENCE IN THE NATIONAL SECURITY DISCOURSE
The concept of „resilience“ has turned into a powerful principle and a discursive tool in the fields of national and international security. To illustrate the growth of „resilience“ in strategic discourse of some of the most powerful actors of the North Atlantic area, the article is divided in two parts. The first part analyzes the national security discourse of two major powers in the region, namely Great Britain and the United States. Using the timeframe of 2010–2015, the prominence of resilience is traced in a set of strategic documents. The second part elevates the level of analysis to the two most relevant international organizations – NATO and the EU. The objective of this part is to discuss the remarkable surge of resilience discourse, which gained a firm ground throughout 2016. The paper, therefore, explores the appeal of resilience for states as well as for international organizations, without drawing a causal relation between the two. It also highlights how resilience has played a powerful role as a value and a principle, as well as a desired end state, against a backdrop of complex and hybrid threats to both national and international security.
INCREASING OF THE CHINESE NAVAL POWER
New Political and Military Ambitions in the Region?
With an effort to further develop the economic output of China and preserve her social stability, the Government of the People's Republic of China is strongly motivated to secure the on-going inflow of crucial raw materials concurrently with the continuing outflow of Chinese products outside the Mainland China. Regarding the fact that almost three quarters of the overall volume of transported resources as well as exported production is done by maritime routes, the PRC faces a strategic challenge to control these routes in order to prevent their interruption. This corresponds with the continuous growth of Chinese military expenditures and focus on the further PLA Navy development.
AMN AL-KHARJI
An Analysis of External Operations Wing of the Islamic State
This article provides an analysis of the external operations wing of IS –the so-called Amn al-Kharji – focusing on its activities in the West. Apart from describing the organisation’s leadership, internal hierarchy, strategy and means of communication and attack coordination, the author asserts there is a link between recent deadly cells-based attacks and generally unsuccessful lone actor attacks; this connection between the two is not accidental but a result of a grand strategy, designed to hide the planning of larger plots by overloading security services with numerous smaller attacks.
ACTIVITIES OF THE Al-QAEDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA AND SO-CALLED ISLAMIC STATE IN THE CONFLICT IN Y
This article compares the activities of two Salafi-jihadist organizations, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the so-called Islamic State, in the context of the civil war in Yemen. The studied period is from in January 2015 till the end of March 2017. The author compares activities of both groups in four parameters – violent actions, control of territory and provision of services, acquisition of resources, and media activities. The author also briefly outlines other important influences on the mutual competition and its possible implications on the conflict in Yemen and global Salafi-jihadist competition.
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR FUTURE MILITARY ROBOTS SUPPORTING MOBILITY
The paper deals with tasks related to engineer support for mobility, contemporary requirements for military robots and their possible future application for mobility support tasks. The result of this paper is an evaluation of requirements for engineer vehicles designated for the tasks of engineer mobility support and an analysis of the individual engineer tasks from the perspective of implementation by military robots in future operations. Knowledge obtained by studying scientific and professional literature was assessed by methods of analysis and deduction. Methods of induction and synthesis were used for exploring the possibilities of future application of military robots and for gathering partial conclusions. Information dealing with requirements for engineer means supporting mobility were gathered by the method of directed interviews with selected experts. The text provides a general insight into the issue of robotization of engineer tasks related to engineer support for mobility and requirements for military robots. Thus, it mediates a preview of the future performance of engineer mobility tasks and it can serve as a guidance for consideration of prospective investments into the Corps of Engineers.
SECURATIZATION OF THE MEXICAN MEMBERSHIP IN THE UNASUR
The article tries to determine whether and to what degree the qualitative change of the Latin American regional-security complex occurred due to the occurrence of UNASUR and the CDS. The article especially tries to determine the impact of the possible Mexican membership in UNASUR and its influence on the coherence of the LA regional-security complex. The article applies the method of discourse analysis and analyses the key Brazilian political figures’ speeches in order to determine why the Mexican membership in UNASUR poses a securitization issue for Brazil. While presuming that the coherence of the regional-security complex increases when certain issue is interpreted as a securitization issue by all the members of the regional-security complex, the article also focuses on the other UNASUR’s members’ attitudes toward the Mexican membership in this organization.
HOW BUTTER BEATS THE GUNS
Moshe YANOVSKIY, Ilia ZATCOVETSKY
The decreasing share of defence in total government expenditures reflects the fundamental choices about state functions. The main hypothesis of the research is: decreasing priority of military spending could cause lower quality of defence. The case study shows, how “punishment for military success” strategy undermines incentives for army officers. Historical data (military spending and rise of new military justice) support the main hypothesis.