ANALYSIS: Serbia before the presidential election
2017 is another election year for the Serbs. After last year’s parliamentary elections on April 2, the Serbs will once again go to the ballot box to vote for the new president. This year marks the end of the first term of Tomislav Nikolić, who won the 2012 election, defeating Boris Tadić, who was then fighting for re-election In accordance with the electoral law in Serbia, the acting president can apply for re-election after the first five-year term. After changing his mind a few times, Nikolić finally announced that he would not be fighting for the extension of his mandate. His decision was influenced primarily by the fact that his […]
ANALYSIS: Russian nuclear triad – a threat or propaganda?
Despite the financial crisis, economic sanctions and technological difficulties, the Russian Federation is modernizing the Armed Forces within the framework of the State Armaments Program 2011-2020 (Rus. GPW 2020). The modernization of the strategic nuclear forces is considered in Russia as one of the priorities, since the nuclear forces determine Kremlin’s prestige and the position as a superpower. Currently, the nuclear war seems to be a strictly theoretical problem, particularly as far as strategic nuclear strikes are concerned. However, Russia perceives nuclear weapons as a political tool, which may be used against other countries. On December 26, 2014, President Putin approved the new ‘Military Doctrine of the Russian Federation’, which […]
ANALYSIS: The modernisation of the Polish Navy according to the ‘Poland’s Strategic Concept for Maritime Security’
On 10 February 2017, the National Security Bureau published the ‘Poland’s Strategic Concept for Maritime Security’, which tends to face a lack of clear and well-defined plan for Polish maritime force development. Given the structure of the Polish Navy inherited from the Polish People’s Republic (the fleet’s primary objective was to conduct landing operations), it was necessary to define a new strategy, which would consider contemporary geopolitical conditions. However, Polish policymakers have not taken such actions despite the fact that the technical modernisation plan for the Polish Navy was approved (primary functions of the Navy were described in the following documents: ‘Defence Strategy of the Republic of Poland’ published in […]
ANALYSIS: What next with Syria?
The bloody conflict in Syria has entered its seventh year. There are indications that it may be a significant year for a war that has already consumed hundreds of thousands of lives and has led the country to ruin. Unfortunately, the prospects of its end still seem distant. In the coming months Syrians may expect further consolidation of the major trends we have encountered in this conflict over the last couple of years. These include the survival of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad (after the breakdown the regime suffered in early 2015), with the gradual recovery of the areas of the country that had until recently been in the […]
ANALYSIS: Russian Energy Diplomacy: instruments and approaches
The understanding of close links between foreign and energy policy was first reflected in the Russian Federation’s 2003 Energy Strategy. Improving Russian position in international system through savvy use of energy resources is also one of the key goals of the next Energy Strategy – 2030. Moreover, the project of the future Russian Energy Strategy – 2035 has highlighted that a new key goal of energy policy for the coming years is to strengthen Russia’s position in the global energy markets. Therefore, one can read between the lines in all of Russia’s Energy Strategies that it aims at becoming a global energy superpower in the near future. Russian energy policy […]
ANALYSIS: EU global strategy: opportunities and challenges of further implementation
During the meeting of the European Council on 28 June 2016, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, informed the Council about the new foreign policy strategy and security policy, entitled: ‘Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe’. The Council recommended that the High Representative, the Commission and the Council ought to take it into account in their work. General setup The Global Strategy of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) presented in four chapters the EU mission in the area of security, the principles of external action, the priorities of these activities and ways to ensure their implementation. The setup of the strategy […]
Acceleration in the programme of MRAD „Wisła”?
The future participation of the Polish Defence Industry (PDI) in the production of the Medium Range Air Defence (MRAD) system „Wisła” may well have been determined by the events which took place in 2016. The Ministry of National Defence (MND) of Poland decided to pursue a competitive path and engaged in discussions with two MRAD providers: Raytheon (Patriot system) and MEADS (Medium Extended Area Defence System). The current frontrunner, Raytheon, committed to awarding 50% of the work share to the PDI and designing as well as manufacturing several major end items of the Patriot Next Generation system in Poland. Due to complexity of MRAD systems, “Wisla” procurement is the most […]
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the Polish Armed Forces – current status of the Technical Modernisation Programme
The breakdown in talks between the Polish Ministry of Development and the Airbus Company over a potential offset agreement, as well as the political impact of unsuccessful negotiations, has been widely discussed over recent months. The process of replacing aging fleet of Polish Armed Forces’ helicopters (both transport and specialised versions) has been postponed until next year as a consequence of the failed procurement process to purchase utility helicopters that started in 2013. It is worth emphasising that other procurement programmes are also postponed and this one is no exception. A large majority of the military modernisation programmes is significantly delayed in regard to preliminary assumptions of the Technical Modernisation […]
