ANALYSING RESERVE FORCES AS AN ENABLER FACTOR FOR ACTIVE MILITARY

Abstract

The continuum degradation of the international security environment represents a negative effect of the unbalanced power that followed the end of the Cold War. With only one superpower controlling the international order it is almost impossible to prevent and manage numerous crisis and conflicts which happened all around the world at any time. Therefore, the idea of changing the current world order acquires greater and greater valences in the mind of regional powers. At the same time, the military conflict evolves and is highly influenced by the new risks and threats that appeared at national, regional and international security environments. Recent events demonstrate that we have to fight today wars and be prepared for the tomorrow ones at the same time. Preparing the population for defense and, implicitly, developing a culture of security within civil society, alongside the revitalization of the voluntary reserve, are vital and the only elements that can contribute to harnessing the society's volunteerism and accessing the potential available at this moment in Romanian society for achieving resilience and acceptable internal security. This is essential for fulfilling the objective of a possible regeneration of the active military force. Therefore, the role of reserve forces and reservists, including volunteer ones, in this new operating environment is continuing increasing and their importance inside national military forces acquires a new connotation for more and more missions. Apart for being just a human resource to replace lost active-duty personnel, reservists can enhance the resilience at national and military levels and fill up gaps or niche positions. This material will analyse how reserve forces were used in the current wars in line with new security environment paradigm and will propose some real ways ahead for the Romanian Armed Forces to develop such enabling operational resources.