Strategic Impact

STRATEGIC DIALOGUE with Vice Admiral Mihai Panait, PhD, Chief of The Romanian Naval Forces –

STRATEGIC IMPACT — 2024-10-09

GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

Iulia Cojocaru — 2024-10-09

EDITOR’S NOTE

Florian CÎRCIUMARU — 2024-10-09

DOCTRINAL APPROACH TO GAIN SEABED CONTROL ‒ THE CASE OF BLACK SEA SECURITY

Lucian Valeriu SCIPANOV — 2024-10-09

The paperwork examines the complex seabed environment to emphasize the importance of gaining seabed control as part of the broader maritime security. The article demonstrates the importance of researching what the concept of “seabed warfare” means to suggest some directions for the seabed warfare doctrine alone or as part of a naval doctrine. The research aims at identifying the key directions necessary for achieving seabed control and its potential to integrate seabed warfare concepts into the naval doctrine. Therefore, the first part of the article highlights the geophysical, military, and economic characteristics of the seabed environment relevant to seabed warfare. The second part of the paper aims to provide some directions for obtaining seabed control, and a classification system for seabed warfare operations. The novelty of the article lies in the identification of the seabed control directions and the opportunity to integrate the seabed control concept into the Romanian Naval Forces doctrine.

CENTRAL EUROPE, SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN SECURITY POLICY - edited by Tamás Csiki Varga Mihai

Mihai ZODIAN — 2024-10-09

Security Perception and Security Policy in Central Europe, 1989-2019, Routledge, 2024, 160 pages.

The volume contains an introduction by Tamás Csiki Varga and nine chapters by: Ádám Budai, Tomáš Čižik, Zdeněk Kříž, Hennadiy Maksak, Tamás Levente Molnár, Milena Palczewska, Alexandra Sarcinschi, and Aleksandar Vanchoski. The states covered are Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Ukraine, Austria, Poland, Romania, Croatia, and Serbia.

TRANSATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP – POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE NEW GEOSTRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

Ilinca-Smaranda CIOATĂ — 2024-10-09

Considering a series of events from the last ten years, politically and militarily relevant, International Relations scholars are questioning the robustness of the EuroAtlantic relations. However, such a cooperation, that started decades ago, does not end without serious consequences that can go beyond the area of the involved parties. The main assumption of this article is that, for the short term, no serious transformation – such as a division between the European and the American parties, be it political, military, or economic – can take place in the present security framework – without severe implications for the global order. However, in the longer term, the cooperation can find a rather independent European Union – thought not entirely, capable of defending itself and projecting its military power beyond its borders (European Parliament 2022, 1). For the purpose of this article, there will be analysed the relationship between the European Union and NATO, based on the latest strategic documents adopted in 2022 by the two organizations – EU’s Strategic Compass and NATO’s Strategic Concept, as well as the most recent Joint Declaration signed by the two partners in January 2023. The latter provides common responses to new challenges and joint efforts to promote an international environment based on stability and prosperity, and the condemnation of the actors who cause instability affecting peace and security. The overall objective is to present the ability of the two organisations to adapt to the new challenges and threats in order to achieve their common objectives. The expected outcome of the analysis is to position the Transatlantic Partnership as a fundamental element of stability in the transatlantic area through the implementation of agreed security and defence strategies and objectives.

EU-AFRICA PARTNERSHIP ON PEACE AND SECURITY: A QUEST FOR A STRATEGIC CULTURE?

Andreea DINCĂ — 2024-10-09

Amidst the complex, dynamic and highly relevant landscape of the European Union (EU) - Africa relations, the partnership on peace and security constitutes a pivotal aspect, with the EU being an active supporter and substantial funder of national, regional and continental initiatives within this domain. While the vast majority of current research and debates frame the EU-Africa partnership on peace and security within the context of global power competition, this article explores the potential explanatory role of the strategic culture approach on this topic. Therefore, it looks at the main events and trends influencing the partnership after 2022, assessing whether the EU’s security actions in Africa reflect a coherent strategic culture. The article concludes that the strategic culture framework helps understand European preferences, constraints and effectiveness regarding its security behaviour in Africa.

VALIDATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES FOR CYBERINTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS IN INTELLIGENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY

Cristian CONDRUȚ — 2024-10-09

Cybersecurity educational endeavours are nowadays of interest to public and private institutions as proven by the fact that multiple academic and training formats are available in academia and professional organizations. Given that cyberintelligence developed as a subfield of both intelligence and national security and cybersecurity, education and training are needed to form intelligence analysts that deal with cybersecurity threats in intelligence and national security organizations. Our main objective is to validate and prioritize a set of cybersecurity and intelligence competences that can be used in education and training endeavours for the cyberintelligence analysts in intelligence and national security organizations. Our results show that the high-priority competences for this type of professionals are a mix between intelligence and cybersecurity competences, most prevalent being the analytical and contextual dependent ones. In our article, we also elaborate on examples of educational practices that can be applied to high priority competences.

PERMACRISIS, CLIMATE CHANGE AND SOCIETY. TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS: RISK PERCEPTION COMPONENT

Alexandra SARCINSCHI — 2024-10-09

The paper discusses the relevance of incorporating risk perception assessment into the analysis of the impact of climate change on the societal dimension of national security. The objective is to develop a framework for analysis that will provide a coherent basis for future strategies and policies in this area. In order to address this issue, it is first necessary to acknowledge that climate change is just one of a number of phenomena and events contributing to the global permacrisis that causes stress and anxiety to the population. The second section of the paper presents a review of the relevant literature. Our aim is to determine whether it is appropriate to assess the risk perception in this context. Having conducted an assessment based on existing surveys, we will then draw conclusions on the essential elements of a framework for analysing climate change-related risks.

A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ART OF DECEPTION FROM THE 2022 KHARKIV COUNTEROFFENSIVE

George-Ion TOROI — 2024-10-09

The use of deception in military operations has been a key tactic throughout history, and the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive provides a fascinating case study in the art of deception in warfare. This essay delivers an in-depth analysis of the various deceptive tactics employed during the counteroffensive, including concealment of troop maneuvers, misinformation campaigns, and feint attacks. By examining these tactics in detail, the study aims to shed light on the effectiveness of deception in current military operations and to draw lessons for future operations planning. The approach of the case study presented facilitated a comprehensive understanding of how deception was used in the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive, while also facilitating the identification and confirmation of key enduring principles, types, and methods of deception employed by the military forces involved. The essay also sets the stage for discussing the particularities of military deception from a theoretical point of view and how it was employed in the operation, but also its impact on the outcome of the Kharkiv campaign.

LEVERAGING EMERGING AND DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES TO STREAMLINE THE DEPLOYMENT PROCESS AND ENHANCE FORCE PROTECTION IN CURRENT AND FUTURE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

Ionela Cătălina MANOLACHE — 2024-10-09

The current security environment requires precise and adjusted protection measures provided by security-generating organizations. Protecting the transatlantic area is an international priority, and emerging and disruptive technologies are crucial. However, to secure this area, it is essential to adopt effective force protection measures and credible force projection during deployment. Through specific research practices, such as documentary analysis, the paper intends to address how military leaders organize the rapid movement of forces to potential “hotspots” by planning for force protection and leveraging emerging and disruptive technologies.

MAINTENANCE ASPECTS OF UKRAINIAN DRONES

Petru-Eduart DODU — 2024-10-09

Drones become part of our life, having a huge impact on it. What was beyond our imagination yesterday, becomes true today and will be even better tomorrow. Nowadays, with the help of drones we are able to detect in agriculture the parcels that require herbicides and fertilizer, develop researches in the atmosphere, monitor pollution and dangerous areas, have a better reconnaissance of the domestic infrastructure or obtain an easier victory in conflicts. The purpose of this paper is to briefly analyze the maintenance required by drone systems - going through a short history of drones, their evolution and classification, their use in the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict as well as the key aspects of their maintenance process. This article aims to provide a concise analysis of the maintenance needs for drone systems. It will cover the drone’s brief history, classification and evolution, use in the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and important maintenance procedures. Unmanned aerial vehicles have a very small tendency to be maintained in the same way as conventional aircraft (only by qualified aircraft maintenance personnel guided by complete maintenance procedures) due to differences in the personnel, equipment to be maintained, practices, and technical documentation, especially in a combat environment. In fact, untrained operators or maintainers without prior training in aviation maintenance constitute even the staff engaged.

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR “Lessons identified from the conflict in Ukraine”

Otilia LEHACI — 2024-10-09