Defence and strategy

Jaromír ZŮNA

The concept of effect based approach to operations, known as EBO/EBAO, was developed in reaction to the course of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now the concept expires. From the beginning, the effect based operations concept had been subject to critical discussions, namely due to the fact that the comprehensive thought process involved in the concept had not been properly understood and its interpretations varied. Primarily, it was not an operation concept, rather, a new operation planning system. It can be also mentioned that the concept was not based on operational art, but on social sciences instead. The concept had not been understood as a deterministic and technology based system, rather, its objective was to support the present day military operations waged among the civilian population. The article deals with some of the fundamental links leading to the expiration of the EBO/EBAO concepts.

Vilém KOLÍN

In 2010, it will be six years since the establishment of the European Defence Agency (EDA), which seeks to improve defence capabilities of the Member States of the European Union (EU) in crisis management to sustain Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The article describes the EDA Strategic Framework, consisting of four basic strategic documents that correspond with the EDA main tasks in the area of defence capabilities development, research and technology co-operation, armaments co-operation, and the creation of the European Defence Equipment Market (EDEM), while strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB). Against the background of the EDA Strategic Framework, the article maps the current major EDA projects and identifies the main challenges the EDA will face in the near future.

Petr ZEMAN

The widely-spread concept of the intelligence cycle is usually considered banal. In fact, it comprises many theoretical and primarily practical issues. The paper newly defines the stages of the cycle, compares the Czech terminology to the foreign ones (namely the English one); aims to denominate some issues and suggests how to resolve them. A significant critical focus of the paper consists in discussing activities that rarely get proper attention: definition of the inputs or the tasking, primary processing of raw information, and finally some of the difficulties regarding distribution of finished intelligence to legitimate users. The paper considers correctness of the concept in the world/environs of defensive intelligence activity. Eventually, the paper confirms that the concept of the intelligence cycle is useful: it reflects a factual distribution of labour within the intelligence agencies and makes the internal self-reflection within them possible.

Eva DUŘPEKTOVÁ*, Zdeněk KŘÍŽ**

War is a constant feature of human affairs and a permanent topic of ethical debates. Moral reasoning about war and peace known as just war theory has its roots in Christian ethics and is connected to positive international law. The theory is doubly critical – it serves as a tool for evaluating the justice of a state’s decision to go to war, as well as its conduct in particular warfare. The article uses the latter part of just war theory as an analytical tool for answering the question whether the allied conduct during the Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 met the criteria of justice in war (jus in bello). Two main principles of jus in bello are discrimination and proportionality. These moral categories aim at reducing the damage and destruction incurred in war. The Operation Iraqi Freedom was conducted with awareness of the importance of these principles, because the U.S. Army used new weapon technologies, mainly precision-guided missiles, that reduced the casualties among Iraqi civilians.

Jana HONKOVÁ*, Petr SUCHÝ**

The text analyses the position, role and perception of mutual nuclear deterrence between the United States and the Russian Federation in the period after the end of the Cold War. The authors argue that the deterrence is still present in the Russian-American relationship, despite the fact, that its intensity significantly decreased. They come to conclusion that this feature of mutual relationship is going to be present in the foreseeable future as well as the ongoing debates.