Articles
TWO PERCENT OF GDP FOR DEFENSE
A Realistic Commitment of NATO Nations?
First, advantages and disadvantages connected with measuring military expenditures as a share of national GDP are being discussed. Subsequently, the article analyzes development of defense burden in NATO nations during the past decade in the context of spending commitments within NATO. First, this analysis covers the years 2009 through 2013 in relation to the spending commitment after the Bucharest NATO Summit. Second, the analysis focuses on the development of defense burden between 2014 and 2018 in relation to the commitment to allocate at least 2% of GDP for defense in 2025 latest.
THE DEALS AND THE REALITY OF CZECH POSTMODERN WAR VETERANS
Relative Deprivation as a Possible Risk
Jitka LAŠTOVKOVÁ, Peter BRNULA, Lukáš NOVOTNÝ
The paper broaches the topic of the perception of the care and attention that the state affords to postmodern war veterans. The analysis is based on a qualitative paradigm and the authors work with semi-structured interviews with 12 veterans who were in international military operations and who are no longer on active duty. In the context of the relative deprivation theory, the paper shifts from the topic of one’s own perception of identity in comparison to other veterans to the reassessment of the past and the related impact. At the end of the paper, the authors focus the discussion on the need for better care to be taken of this group.
GERMANY AND UN PEACEKEEPING
Winds of change or business as usual?
The article aims to explore the main trends in German participation in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. Special attention is devoted to the period since 2014 when top German political representatives announced an increased willingness to step up German engagement in international affairs. Soon after, Germany shifted from a rather hesitant UN peacekeeper to the most significant European troop provider to UN peacekeeping operation in Mali (MINUSMA). The increased involvement of Germany in MINUSMA as a new trend is discussed.