Defence and strategy

Luděk MORAVEC

This article called “The Afghan Mission: The Other Side of the COIN” brings an evaluation of NATO and the Taliban strategies in contemporary Afghanistan. The strategic choice of both actors is researched using the concept of the “centers of gravity” and confronted with a specific situation on the ground. Furthermore, additional attention is paid to the struggle for hearts and minds and its role in NATO’s strategy. The paper is concluded with the determination of a single center of gravity of the NATO-Taliban confrontation which is offered as the evaluation criterion for further steps to be used in the Afghan war.

Zoltán JOBBÁGY

War as a complex adaptive system indicates that effects can have both systematic and accidental causes. In war there are identifiable cause-and-effect relationships, and phenomena we cannot explain based on analytical rationality. Assumptions regarding military effectiveness are as much permissive as they are deterministic/heuristic. Thus, measures of military effectiveness often reflect the sum of individual aggregates rather than collective characteristics. Whatever the conceptualisation, the ability to learn and adapt expressed as military effectiveness appears an important attribute and refers to a certain gap in operational capabilities over time. In this article the author suggests to examine it on the operational level where military effectiveness can be expressed by the concept of fighting power, as in most cases winning wars comes as a result of winning battles.

Radovan EUGEL

The article analyses the change of the architecture of American ballistic missile system in Europe by Barrack Obama in September 2009. The author argues that this change was partially, but not solely, motivated by the effort to appease the Russian antagonism against this project. This is supported by various arguments for and against the assertion that it was an effort to appease Russia. Thus, the answer should be somewhere in the middle.

Josef KRAUS

This paper is focused on the comparison of strategy of state-sponsoring of terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The strategy is described using five types of support – propaganda and political support, directing the terror, the use of financial leverage, instruction and training, the transfer of weaponry. The primary aim of this text is to clear up the Iranian role in supporting of two chosen Islamic terrorist organization and to explain its differences caused by historical, ideological, political and technical matters to the reader of this article. The text also contains the explanation of the origin, ideological background, political demands and the main terroristic activity of Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.

Eva TATEROVÁ

Since the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001 there have been presented a series of opinions, comments and studies examining more or less deeply the roots of the hostile attitudes towards the United States of America (USA). The term “anti-Americanism” has become very fashionable however its genuine essence, historical development and meaning often remain hidden. This study aims to analyze the origins and development of the phenomenon of anti-Americanism in the region of Middle East during the Cold War. The research will be focused on the comparison of the phenomenon in two important regional states – Iran and Saudi Arabia. Concerning the history of last few decades, Saudi Arabia is usually understood as one of the key American Middle Eastern allies, together with Egypt and the State of Israel. In comparison since the Islamic revolution in 1979 Iran has been often presented as American mortal enemy. The truth is that such a simple explanation is not satisfactory. The antagonistic attitudes towards the USA can be observed in both countries. Also, the local anti-Americanism has got quite a long history based on a variety of factors. The research will be based on a statement that the parallels between Iranian and Saudi Arabian negative perceptions of USA can be found despite of their different historical backgrounds.

Dóra SZIJJ

The hardly-known but regrettably prevalent phenomenon of child soldiery, which can be considered as a new development of modern warfare, might affect approximately 250,000 – 300,000 children worldwide. According to the estimates, 40% of our planet’s armed forces or armed groups deploy “child combatants” for different tasks, while the international community is still struggling against this form of the abuse of children. The global nature of child soldiery raises many questions in many fields, because it has deep political, social, economic, military, environmental, ethnic and religious etc. roots and far reaching consequences in the so-called Third World. Moreover, if we focus on the African peacekeeping missions of the European Union, child soldiery might also have indirect impacts on the European community. The aim of this study is to offer a comprehensive approach in connection with child soldiery, and pointing out the links between the post-colonial conflicts and this form of human rights breaches.

Miroslav MAREŠ

This article deals with the threat of irredentism for the Czech Republic, mostly from the comparative historical perspective. It analyses contemporary situation and possible future development of territorial claims in relation to the Czech Republic. It defines the term irredentism and its dimensions. The irredentist threats for the Czech Republic in the first half of the 20 century are described. Contemporary threats are conceptualized (new dimension of traditional threats with direct connection to the Czech territory, new dimension of traditional threats in regional security environment and new forms of irredentist threats). Author comes to conclusion that the substance of irredentist threat has been changed – from “hard security” threat to “weak security” threat, however, in the future can be the risk potential of some forms of irredentism again higher than today.