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The article presents issues related to motives, methods of Ronald Reagan’s foreign policytowards Afghanistan. The U.S. President Ronald Reagan administration granted millionsof dollars of aid, largely in the form of weapons and military training, to famous guerrillasin Afghanistan, known as the mujahadeen. Their enemy was the Soviet Army, which was aninstrument of foreign policy of the USSR.
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The challenges posed by Romania’s accession to the Euro-Atlantic bodies cannot be faced in the absence of the military decision-makers’ education and training, for the process of transformation implies the existence of a set of special skills, knowledge, and aptitudes meant to facilitate the process per se, as well as to motivate those who must put it in practice. The Romanian military system’s transformation process is accompanied by the NATO transformation process, which is the reason why the Allied Transformation Command was established. On the one hand, this may be regarded as a constraint; on the other hand, it is also a chance and a catalyst for our country, since we thus have something against which to benchmark our achievements, as well as a source of inspiration in terms of our own military system’s transformation.
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In this article, the legal framework for the disciplinary repression within the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina is subjected to criticism, using dogmatic, historical, sociological, philosophical and comparative methods of the legal science. Doubts which concerns the legal nature of this institution, framing it within administrative, criminal and labor law, are resolved in the context of a professional military organization, in favour of the latest. Starting from the prevailing labour nature of military discipline, it was concluded that this framework does not provide minimum procedural guarantees under Articles 5, 6 and 13 of the (European) Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and detected the substantial and technical shortcomings that compromise the legal certainty. Suggested solutions to overcome the present situation, in terms of reform of the legal framework, comprise of legislation that would regulate this issue thoroughly, institutional guarantees of independence and impartiality of the Armed Force’s Legal Service and establishment of the military justice core, in order to protect the human rights of members of the Armed Forces in a way that does not compromise military efficiency.
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The paper focuses on the topic of social work in the Czech Armed Forces,its possibilities and specific implementation. Based on the broad definitionof the objectives of social work in an international context reflectsthe current status of social work with military personnel in the Czech ArmedForce in the past 25 years. On the basis of two different surveys amongprofessional soldiers, realized by different methods and at different stagesof development of a professional army support the idea, that soldiers feelthe lack of social work in the long term, and in the specific areas of theirlives, which are inevitably professionally determined.
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In the first part of the article was described terminology, main featuresand phases of Russian engagement in the conflict. It was pronounced thatRussian engagement in the conflict is possible to designate it as militaryoperation. The second article deals with other aspects of the conflictfocused on indication of the Russian forces in operation, its unmaskingsigns and available operational experiences. The ending of the article dealswith future possibilities of Russian engagement in region of the post-sovietstates and political-military aspects of Russian foreign policy in extensiveconnection.
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This study examines the role of elite politics in the emergence of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. It argues that the struggle between political elites of northern and southern extractions over the control of state power has intensified national conflicts and insurgency in the country. Political elites are no longer divided by ideology but by economics of state power. Elite politics of who gets what, when, and how and the struggle for state power led to the formation of the sect and fuels the incessant attacks and insecurity in Nigeria. The study adopts a methodology involving re-description of history based on documentary research. It establishes that elite politics accounts for the emergence and escalation of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. Accordingly, the study recommends that good and inclusive governance be employed as a panacea for harmonizing the fractured Nigerian state and overcoming insurgency in Nigeria.
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The Indian emperor Aśoka Maurya (273/269 – 232 BC) left behind him an important corpus of inscriptions, describing the leading principles of his rule, which were disseminated over the vast territory of his empire. His ancestors conquered almost the whole of India and of contemporary Afghanistan, as well as parts of Iran. He waged only one war in Kaliṅga in order to incorporate the eastern coast of India into his realm. He described the horrible consequences of this war very openly in his inscriptions. He decided to stop waging wars therafter, and to “conquer” the world by means of righteousness in accordance with Buddhist principles. He cultivated diplomatic relations with neighbouring countries and had ambassadors in all the Hellenistic kingdoms. He invested fourty years of his rule in efforts to shape a different India, and sent missionaries to shape a different world. His thoughts on war and peace, on righteousness and care for all sentient beings are unique in human political history. The dynasty of Aśoka, the Mauryas, ruled some fifty years after his death, until 185 BC. After this, the Brahman dynasty of the Śuṅgas (185 – 73 BC) rose to power in the eastern part of the former empire. The northwestern part of the empire was conquered by the Greek rulers of Bactria, and later by Iranian peoples like the Parthians and the Scythians, and other invaders. It is very likely that we have to thank the Śuṅgas for a Brahmanist revival, and the narrative part of the great heroic epic the Mahābhārata was most probably completed during their rule. It is also possible that an essential portion of the famous philosophical and religous poem Bhagavadgītā, which was incorporated into this epic, was composed during the same period. The poem discusses under which circumstances war is a sin, and under which circumstances it is a duty to fight. The Brahmanical or Hindu world-view here polemically opposes the Buddhist one without naming it explicitly. Some of the most salient dilemmas concerning war and peace, violence and non-violence, duty and compassion found their expression within the context of the polemics between Brahmanism or Hinduism and Buddhism (and Jinism as well), and ethical views concerning human activity and life in general, which emerged on these grounds, can incite us even today to take our stand with regard to life and to other people and sentient beings. Both the Buddhists and the Hindus formulated their basic concepts of human obligation to act out of duty without regard to personal utility with the ultimate aim of promoting universal good and maintaining further existence of the world. This amonuts to the categorical imperative to act in accordance with what would be an ideal universal legislation (dharma, either in the Buddhist or in the Brahmanist sense), as it found its expression in India two thousand years before Kant in Europe. However, the difference between the Brahmanical and Buddhist conception is that, in the Brahmanical world-view, this aim should be attained through the self-denying fulfilment of our duty, irrespectively of the potential pain inflicted on others, while in the Buddhist view, this aim should be achieved through compassion that urges us to invest the greatest efforts to protect other people and sentient beings from pain and physical and spiritual ruin. However, many Buddhist and Jinist views and values were, through the course of time, also incorporated into the Hindu world-view.
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NATO membership has been widely debated in Finland and Sweden, so the North AtlanticAlliance might soon be confronted with an official membership application from one or evenboth countries. Hence the article examines NATO enlargement northwards in Europe andits consequences from the international perspective, focusing on key stakeholders’ potentialreactions. While NATO is likely to welcome the new members, Russia’s hostile response isanalysed with a view to outlining the scope of its potential reaction rather than predictingspecific measures that might be taken by Moscow.
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In recent years, Yemen has become an arena of strategic competition between Middle Eastern regional powers. As is the case with many other regional conflicts, the Yemen war too has been entered into the logic of great international politics and great-power rivalry. Contrary to appearances, however, this is not a proxy war waged by Iran, one that the great rival of Tehran—Saudi Arabia—must, for the sake of its own security interests, oppose. On the contrary, Riyadh is a major player in the conflict, pursuing its own imperial interests. But its strategy is unsuccessful, prolonging the conflict and resulting in the devastation of Yemen and a humanitarian disaster. This can boost the role of terrorist organisations on a scale comparable to what we are witnessing in Syria and Iraq, creating a real threat to international security.
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This article examines the navy as an instrument of the policy of states in the light ofinternational law and the law of the sea. Although traditionally associated with the term“gunboat diplomacy,” naval diplomacy today is not intended to lead to war, but rather tosignal to the allies and rivals one’s political intentions as well as military power. Maritimediplomacy remains a unique and useful tool for governments and their navies, so it continuesto be used to advance state interests. While the army and air force are only occasionally usedin diplomacy, the navy is exceptionally well equipped to be used for reassurance or coercion.
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Serbian intelligence also accused of involvement in bid to prevent NATO entry.
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The paper aims to analyse how information warfare can be conducted in cyberspace and to look at this issue from the perspective of Central and Eastern European Countries. It argues that this form of hostile actions will be increasingly utilized in the region. The main assumption, following Alvin Toffler’s theory, is that “information” – as an increasingly important element of modern societies and as their strategic resource – also serves as a significant tool of modern conflicts. Since information is nowadays strongly related to new technologies, mainly the aspects connected to cybersecurity are analysed. The article looks closer at different aspects of cyberthreats and explains their possible consequences. It may serve as good material for further research and recommendations on countermeasures that may increase security in Europe.
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The article analyses the positions of the Visegrad Group and the Baltic countries on the Russia-Ukraine conflict that erupted in 2014. The authors prove that Poland, Lithuania, Estoniaand Latvia are united by perception that the Russian aggression in Ukraine is a threat to theirnational security, they support for tough policy of anti-Russian sanctions in the internationalarena, and assist Ukraine and the level of declarations and at the level of action. Nonetheless ,level of their participation and support for Ukraine depends on their actual capabilities anddomestic and foreign policy priorities. Reactions of other V4 countries to events in Ukraineare more restrained and vary from quiet pragmatism in Slovakia to clear pro-Russian voicesin the Czech Republic and Hungary. It is unlikely, however, that their position can be a realobstacle to the implementation of the common EU action in the near future.
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Secretary of state hints that Kyiv and Moscow could talk outside the stalled Minsk peace process.
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The dispute over sovereignty in the Falkland Islands (called Islas Malvinas in the Spanishspeaking world) between Argentina and Great Britain has lasted for nearly two hundred years. The archipelago has been a British territory since 1833, when the crew of HMS ‘Clio’ forcibly took over the islands, which had previously belonged to Argentina. The Argentine people have never accepted this loss and have since been trying to reclaim the territory, with no further effect. The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of the Falkland Islands dispute in Argentine domestic and foreign policy during the presidencies of Néstor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007-2015). The thesis of this paper is that the Falklands became a crucial factor in shaping Argentine policy during the Kirchner era, not only on the international level, but also within the country.
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This paper is an attempt of author of the paper primarily to classify and then to define non-armed external forms of imperilment of the state security capacity and also to underline imperilment for integral security of the state that is coming from a seemingly innocent activity of certain external groups and organizations. The author of the paper argues that non- armed forms of imperilment of the state security capacity are primarily military pressure, threat, offensive propaganda activities and aggressive performance of foreign intelligence services. It is very important to underline also that the external non- armed forms of imperilment are always or almost always a prelude to emergence of armed forms of imperilment of security. Objective – task of the non- armed external forms of imperilment of security is preparation of „the field” for, for example, a military intervention or aggression on some state which is target of the violence. This paper is also a warning to the states as well as to the United Nations that the external non- armed forms of imperilment of security must be treated in accord with the imperilment coming from them. The systems of security of states must build up instruments for early recognition of aggressiveness and covert violence in activity of various external services and organizations. Such external activity must be incriminated by both the State legislation and legal documents of the United Nations.
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The paper investigates the compatibility of the modern technologies of warfare, specifically the use of offensive drones, with traditional military ethics and suggests that the new technologies radically change the value system of the military in ways which make large parts of the traditional military ethics inapplicable. The author suggests that Agamben’s concept of ‘effectivity’ through ‘special actions’ which mark one’s belonging to a particular community or profession is a useful conceptual strategy to explore the compatibility of drone warfare with traditional military ethics; this strategy shows mixed results at best.
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