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Czech dailies and weeklies publicised their analyses of the diplomatic dispatches released by WikiLeaks. Some were concerned in world's politics, but higher attention was paid to 1,271 dispatches from Prague. According to the dispatches, the U.S. Navy wanted to purchase 23 Russian anti-ship missiles to obtain the weapons from Belarus through Ukraine, with a Czech arms dealer. However, the Czech government decided to derail the plan by not granting the Czech middleman the needed permission to export weapons from a dictatorship like Belarus. Various cables also detailed a dispute in the area of arms technology. Some observations from the dispatches dealing with characteristics of Czech prominent politicians are amusing. Overall, the United States evaluated the CzechRepublic positively, as an economically mature country and as an ally.

The exercise was a continuation of series of exercises that were conducted in previous years. Among others, participants of the CPX were representatives of Defence University Brno, National Defence Academy Vienna, Austria, and the Armed Forces Academy, Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia. During the exercise, in imaginary region POPRADLAND, there were practiced various basis aspects of forces preparations and engagement that focus on EU Battle Group in Area of Responsibility, explaining forming commander and staff's decision-making process at the level of Battalion Task Force, during operational planning and its engagement in action. At the end the Officer Conducting the Exercise certified that participants in the CPX fulfilled set goals and aims of this exercise sucessfully. The exercise was designated maily for members of Higher and Basic Command and Staff Courses.

Human capital refers to the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. The article deals with a practical application of this theory into armed forces. The core of its application is wage motivation of a soldier to leave military service if his/her salary is not increasing. The problem is explained by comparison between the age structure of UK Army and Czech Armed Forces. The age structure of UK Army is shaped by the career scheme selecting majority of soldiers out of service before their age of 40. By way of this selection, labour cost is automatically optimised. It is a proof of impact of human capital theory on armed forces that is usually ignored in Czech Forces. The author hopes that poor economic situation in our country ironically helps to optimise Czech army structure.

International situation lies still in the middle of our attention. Public is still interested in current security situation. The publications dealing with security threats are sold out, that's why the Karolinum Publishing House issued the second edition of this reviewed book, Chapters on Security. Nineteen security analysts amended and brought up to date their original papers; the book was enlarged by fifty pages. The monograph covers both inner politics and international organizations. Inseparable are prediction of world's development till the year 2020. The book is also involved with the so-called humane security and the system of complex security control in the Czech Republic.

The Shadow of Nucler War over Europe (19451968). In spite of general expectations, even after the end of the Cold War the world can't get rid of atomic threat. Interest in nuclear problems has increased in the last few years. Among new books dealing with this problem belongs also the monograph by Josef Fučík "The Shadow of Nucler War over Europe: The Strategy of Military Blocks, Operational Plans and the Role of the Czechoslovak People's Army in Central European Theatre in 1945-1968". In the 60's, the last century, the danger of nuclear confrontation was extremely high. The Soviet Union accumulated large atomic potential, the fact that disabled American strategy of flexible response. On the other side, this fact led the Americans to strengthen conventional forces, not welcomed by American Western Allies. Nowadays we can see similar situation, in case of unwillingness of West European nations to support American activities, e.g. in Afghanistan.

The identification of security threats and subsequent risks is the base on which we form security and military strategies. It is also the core of all security scenarios. That's why we must welcome all books dealing with futurology predictions, like The Cognition of Future as a Challenge by Martin Potůček at al, Karolinum, Charles University. He summarizes knowledge and experiences done by CESES, the only scholarly lab dealing systematically with drafting up visions and strategies the Czech state might be confronted with. The CESES is a Czech acronym, which stands for the Centre for Social and Economic Strategies, at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague.

The new book by historian František Hanzlík "Without Mercy and Compassion" deals with a prominent actor of the Czechoslovak People's Army and the Communist Party. His personality unites anti-Nazi fight in Soviet Russia, communist coup d'état in February 1948, monstrous political trials. He reached the height of career when he became Deputy Defence Minister and aspired to the position of Defence Minister. But in 1950, when Czech president's son-in-law Alexej Čepička held this office, his rapid decline began. In a sense, it was the start of his end.

Between 1993 and 2009, the EU consisted of three pillars. This structure was introduced with the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993, and was eventually abandoned in 2009, with the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, which among others abolished the so-called second pillar of the EU "Common Foreign and Security Policy". Today this role was taken over by several institutions and agencies, established for solving relevant questions, for examle the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), the European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC) and the European Defence Agency (EDA). The difference is that national acencies solve problems separately, whereas EU agency take into account commont foreign and security policy, under the supervision of the EU.

The article deals with the disintegration and erosion of originally cohesive Chechen resistance movement during the First Chechen War and following inter-war period. According to the author, the main reasons of this process are criminality and religious fundamental radicalisation. They together produced inner confl icts between fi eld commanders; some of them attacked Russian security forces in neighbouring regions (Dagestan, Ingushetia), even after war had ended. Disintegration processes were encouraged by social deprivation after the first war, by strategical position of Chechnya in relation to smuggling drugs and weapons, stealing rude oil, and fi nally activities of foreign Islamic solidarity fi ghters. All those factors signifi cantly contributed to the outbreak of the Second Chechnya War.

In NATO, here are many common items in welfare benefits, and there are different ones. Authoress depicts military social welfare in the CR, Slovakia, Germany, France, Poland, Hungary. The final part of this article compares systems of military benefits of mentioned countries. The authoress enumerates various conditions to be fulfilled, so that soldiers were entitled for welfare or retirement benefits. In nearly all countries, veteran?s pensions are regarded as the substitute for deferred, postponed pay. Retirement pays have its source in the last soldier?s salary. In the Czech Republic, retirement pays are based upon serviceman?s average best income in a calendar year, before he leaves the army, the time he served in the army, and its real income. Czech veteran?s social security scheme is separated from general (civil) social security system, as there some special military benefits that can?t be taken over by civil authorities.

In April and May this year, several articles or essays appeared in civilian media, introducing misleading information that in the near future, the ranks of ordinary servicemen (privates, corporals, sergeants) are coming back, as they were abolished after introducing professional forces. Such proclamations are not quite true, because ranks of private, corporal and sergeant, were earmarked by legal rules above all for soldiers in their compulsory or compensatory military services, i.e. they were not abolished after 2004. There are a lot of similar uncleanlinesses as far rank corps are concerned and therefore the main attention of this article is concentrated on changes that in connection with Act No. 221/1999, Coll., Professional Soldiers, amended and updated in 2009, has come into being.

Official objectives of war on terrorism are as follows: we must face theorist threats, prevent terrorist strikes; suppress the power of terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda. War on terrorism is not a classical or conventional warfare; the term is wide-ranging, covering longterm strategies of national importance. The war on terrorism and employed means are also a source of controversy. It is a question of adequacy of used tools. It is necessary to implement the new strategy of improving conditions in Muslim countries to eliminate their background supporting negative religious and political attitudes towards democracy. Outlined ways of "smoothing edges" in economical, social spheres can noticeably change hateful attitudes of Muslim population towards values of Western democratic society.

The security environment is permanently changing. A national set of risks has increased after joining the EU and NATO and EU enlargement. The Czech Republic is obligated to integrate national security capabilities into NATO and the EU. To fulfil its responsibility, the Czech Republic ought to use the capabilities-based planning for further transformation of national security sector. This NATO concept ought to be in use not only within the MoD, but also at other ministries tied or responsible for national security. The national security sector must be planed, programmed, budgeted and transformed like a body. The article deals with the problem of unifying security concepts across Czech public administration. The author points out that our operational capabilities are influenced among others by the lack of labour force at the Czech national labour market.

It is evident that Barack Obama diverges from Bush's pre-emptive strategy. There are changes in style and contents. Obama begins to direct American policy more towards diplomatic negotiations instead underlining military strength. It is evident namely in proposed negotiations with Iran and in case of Russia, where he wants to overcome cooling down after Russia-Georgia clashes and gas crisis. He insists on avoiding unnecessary conflicts and puts stress on good relations with allies and building new partnerships. He is going to withdraw soldiers from Iraq and in spite of problems in Afghanistan to reduce U.S. military budget. Even though Obama wants to maintain American world's leadership, there are some signs of partial changes in American foreign policy, e.g. his orientation towards Asia suggests first signs of multilateral approach of post-American era. The author also mentions the question of "American radar" in the Czech Republic, the fate of which depends on Iran's nuclear power programme.

The new American doctrinal document called National Security Strategy (NSS 2010) was released in May 2010. Generally, NSS documents outline major national security concerns and plans. The NSS 2010 lays out a strategic approach for advancing American interests, including the security of the American people, growing U.S. economy, and international order that can address 21st century challenges. President Obama is stressing global leadership, dependent on strong and responsible American leadership directing it to ensure other nations follow. He urged Americans to revitalize their own economic, moral and innovative strength to continue to lead the world. The essay by Mr. Eichler is divided into two parts: first one deals with Bush's security policy, and second one deals with documents issued during Obama's presidency. There is a departure from Bush's security strategy that had led to two asymmetric wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are interesting nuances. The NSS 2010 for example declares the intention to build deeper and more effective partnerships with key centres of influence-including China, India, which represents among others Obama's retreat from policy of unilateralism.

He was born in 1918, it means that this year he was 93 years old. He is a participant of the only armed fi ght against German invaders in 1993. The Germans did not release the data about the fallen, but it is estimated that they lost 12-18 deaths and several wounded. Corporal Šolc was discharged. Immediately he joined resistance movement. He was arrested. After the war he worked at the Ostrava Miners Directorate. Although he retires in 1976, he is still dynamic.

The study analyzes the key features of Russian policies in the late 2000s and their prospective developments. It is above all the rise of Russia's economic power, boosted by the favourable rising trend of energy prices (oil and gas) that has helped to resume again the position of one of the key world powers, obsessively pursuing its geopolitical interests in a new emerging multipolar world. This also determines its relations with other major global actors, e.g. the U.S., the EU, and China (outlined in this article). As far as military budget is concerned, it is increasing. Russia has overcome a long period of stagnancy. After 2007, they re-established strategical patrol flights off Russian territory; great effort is aimed at power projection, as a means to secure natural resources beyond Russian boarders. The study is closed by Russia's geopolitical prospects till the year 2020. and its Anticipated Development

The Combined Joint Exercise was focused on the European approach to crisis management operations and involved an annual exchange of students and directing staffs between of the Higher Command and Staff Colleges from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain. The aim of this article is to provide knowledge and personal experience of its author based on his own participation in this exercise at the Escuela Superior de las Fuerzas Armadas (ESFAS) Madrid. The purpose of the exercise was to foster the understanding, mutual knowledge and dialogue among the offi cers of the aforementioned colleges through the practice of operational planning. Among general information describing the character of the exercise, the article defines some areas of the operational art, namely Operational Planning Process, Operational Design, Decisive Point Concept and Centre of Gravity Analysis.

Armed Forces by František Kříž. After September 2001, in operations both in Afghanistan and Iraq, great attention is paid to terrorism throughout the war. In fact, new generation of warfare came in existence. War on terrorism is a large-scale low intensity conflict, without classical confrontations between states, without massive bulk of soldiers. For such type of warfare we can't use weapons of mass destruction, or classical types of warfare. At level of US Army brigade there were some changes in structure and scope of forces. Several new formations were established: Heavy Brigade Combat Teams, Infantry Brigade, Infantry Brigade Combat Teams, and Future Combat System Brigade Combat Teams. In operations, brigade S2 section is reinforced by an analysis and integration platoon, MI Company. The idea of augmentations and reorganizations of S2 groups is to elevate potential in the brigade system of Intelligence Battlefield Operating System. Article is based on articles form Military News, Military Intelligence, Global Security, etc.

All-inclusive attitude of NATO forces assumes that conflict can't be solved only by military means. This shift from purely soldierly level to political brought around numbers of Alliance activities at Strategical and Operational Commands. The common denominator was the philosophy of complex approach in operational thinking, planning, and implementing NATO activities. As a result the operational SACEUR's directive GOP was substituted by its revised successor-the so-called Comprehensive Operations Planning Directive (COPD). It is going to be introduced in 2011 and will influence groups and military persons at all levels of warfare, dealing with operational planning and operational art for art's sake. The article familiarizes readers with this directive (COPD) as a tool for comprehensive approach to operations. The COPD offers more deliberate and inclusive planning procedures that allow for both military and non-military actors broader understanding of operational environment and better cooperation in their common effort.

This paper deals with aspects of intelligence analysis that very often influence the quality of intelligence information utilized by end users. Such analysis requires not only analytical thinking, but also specific experiences of all personnel exploiting collected information. The same body of information may result in multiple analytic products, with different security classifications, time scales, and level of detail. The result of this process is an analytical product - evaluation without any idle speculation and pseudo prophecy. Evaluation and interpretation must describe up-to-date conditions and demonstrate the clusters of future images with alternative developments. Reasonable evaluation reduces uncertainty and makes user's decision easier. At the end the author concentrates on rules of analytical team control and management.

The article summarizes the results of sociological research into organizational culture in the ACR. It should create the picture of military organization, perhaps point at potential dysfunctions and thus to help to their correction. Respondents's opinions on remunerations were detected, in respondents places of work, in combination with their expectancy, anticipations what military service might bring to them. Two thirds professional soldiers have positive attitudes towards interpersonal relations at their working places. The worst position on the scale had the chance to work with the latest technologies and to start a professional career, i.e. to reach important positions. The culture of sustenance, sports facilities were evaluated positively. The lowest rating was allocated to arms equipment, furnishing and quality of garrison quarters. Respondents were also unsatisfied with high level of bureaucratic procedures and formalization.

Computer-Aided Logistic Support (CALS) appeared for the first time in 1984 in a common study of US government and American defence industry. The study recommended using technical data in digital form. Further it was changed into Computer-Aided Acquisition and Logistic Support and in 1994 the acronym CALS was changed into Continuous Acquisition and Life-Cycle Support. At present we interpret CALS as the support to all automatized processes with fully digitalized data processing. Among its important tools belong LCC (Life-Cycle Costs) and risk management. It is a vast standardization strategy, covering the whole life cycle, via acquisition process, its support, innovation and product disposal. CALS is supposed to make acquisition procedures in the ACR more effective.

Czech MoD has to be economical with resources provided from the state budget. The article deals with the distribution and structure of state budget in relation to MoD itemized summary of expected income and expenditures. The authoress discusses several patterns used in this field, e.g. costminimization analysis, or assessing the total amount of money allocated for a specific purpose during a specified period. She also points to several unintended mistakes done by MoD officials.

Both in our country and the world the wider concept of security is on its way. It influences wide variety of various subjects and objects that create national and coalition strategies. There are many academic branches dealing with various individual aspects of security, but the present day calls for more complex and sophisticated access to security problems. The author proposes to establish a new academy discipline, the so-called security science or securitology, to respond adequately to current security challenges. It would be an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, problems oriented "meta-science", associating history, philosophy, social sciences, international politics, axiology, the Arts, law studies, psychology (namely military psychology), demographics, criminology, ethics, environmentalism, geography and so on. To tell the truth, in practice, complex security system is accepted. The author enumerated all relevant institutions in our society, civilian or armed, bodies, authorities, legislative and executive powers that are being involved in predictions, analyses, assessments and responses to possible threats, dangers or perils.