Strategic Impact

WORKSHOP “THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON NATIONAL SECURITY (III)”

Otilia LEHACI — 2025-04-10

GROUP COHESION IN INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER MILITARY UNITS: INSIGHTS FROM THE UKRAINE CONFLICT

Cristian PANAIT — 2025-04-10

This paper investigates the emergence and maintenance of group cohesion in
international volunteer military units, using the Ukraine conflict as a focal case.
Conventional models of military cohesion emphasize prolonged training, shared
routines, and extensive interpersonal bonding, processes generally unavailable to rapidly assembled volunteer forces. The study synthesizes the adaptive mechanisms enabling cohesive action in these unconventional units, through a documentation analysis of scholarly articles, field reports, and publicly available interviews with international volunteer fighters in Ukraine.
The findings highlight three primary pathways that compensate for the absence
of traditional cohesion-building processes. Firstly, swift trust, based on role-based expectations and urgent shared objectives, allows strangers to form immediate functional relationships. Secondly, leadership-driven cohesion emerges when leaders act as psychological anchors, instilling unity and providing guidance in high-stress settings; strong leadership effectively substitutes for weaker peer bonds. Thirdly, stress-induced bonding underscores how shared combat hardships forge powerful interpersonal links, solidifying group solidarity despite members’ diverse backgrounds and limited collective experience.
These insights expand conventional models of military group dynamics and have
practical implications for training, organizational design, and psychological support in crisis-driven environments. By elucidating how international volunteer units in Ukraine cohere under minimal pre-deployment preparation, the paper challenges the assumptionthat lengthy, structured conditioning is the sole path to effective military teamwork. In doing so, it offers strategic lessons for future conflict scenarios involving spontaneously formed units, underscoring the potential for rapid yet resilient group cohesion through clearly defined roles, adaptive leadership, and collective stress experiences.

RUSSIA’S USE OF PMCS AS A FOREIGN POLICY INSTRUMENT IN MALI POST 2021

Andrei-Vasile RUS — 2025-04-10

Following successive coups in 2020 and 2021, Mali faced a deteriorating security situation, exacerbated by the withdrawal of French troops and UN peacekeepers. The vacuum created has allowed external actors, namely Russia, to exert influence. The Wagner Group, a Russian private military company (PMC), has played a prominent role in Mali since 2021, providing military support and advancing Russian strategic interests. The article examines the legal and operational framework of PMCs, with a focus on Russia, and compares their role in foreign policy to similar entities from the United States and China. Mali’s rich natural resources and strategic location make it a focal point in global power dynamics, while the dependence on PMCs raises critical questions regarding sovereignty, security and exploitation by other foreign powers. By analyzing these issues, the article sheds light on the implications of the private military companies involvement in fragile states and their use as instruments of geopolitical influence.

THE POWER AND AUTONOMY OF A SMALL STATE: A REVIEW

Mihai ZODIAN — 2025-04-10

MILITARY STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN UKRAINE

Paul-Alexandru SANDA — 2025-04-10

The paper analyzes the military strategic objectives of the Russian Federation during the three years of military operations in Ukraine.
Although most analysts tend to see the Russian Federation as dangerous because it has been imperial, thus irrational in a Nation’s Age, the author of the article tends to see it having been engaging its military forces in operations meant to bring about only achievable military strategic objectives.
Should we compare the pictures – Russian Federation being irrational or rational – we believe that the latter is the more dangerous. One the one hand, while irrationality could cause grave threats to the other actors, it tends to cause the more serious danger to the irrational actor itself, danger provoked be all of the irrational costs. On the other hand, a rational approach will cause painful, unwanted, unplanned costs for the other actors, while bringing mostly strategic
advantages to the Russian Federation.

GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

Florian CIRCIUMARU — 2025-04-10

EDITOR’S NOTE

Florian CIRCIUMARU — 2025-04-10

OPERATIONAL DESIGN Applying Operational Art into the Planning Process of Operations

Florian CIRCIUMARU — 2025-04-10

LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS, PROPAGANDA AND SECURITY CHALLENGES

Diana-Cristiana LUPU — 2025-04-10

The present paper is a non-systematic narrative review of security challenges and solutions related to the LLM-generated propaganda, considered in the context of influence activities. The purpose of the paper is to provide a synthesis of the knowledge on the mentioned topic, based on research, opinion and regulatory documents published between 2017 and 2024. To that end, the developed research protocol is designed to take into account criteria related to the diversity, credibility and eligibility of primary and secondary sources. The synthesis of topic-related knowledge is then illustrated and discussed in a manner as objective as possible. Thus, we consider that the main findings can be of help for researchers to identify, justify and refine hypotheses, focusing on possible pitfalls and gaps, as well as for the general
public to acquire a higher level of situational awareness, given the novelty of the topic. Moreover, they may contribute towards targeting new avenues for research in the field