STRATEGIC IMPACT
Number 2/2006
4[21]/2006
Contents
THE POLITICAL-MILITARY PRESENT
The Middle East, the Near East. Landmarks for a possible solution -
Mircea MUREŞAN, PhD, Doina FILOTE
GEOPOLITICS AND GEOSTRATEGIES ON THE FUTURE’S TRAJECTORY
Unité et diversité des cultures stratégiques en Europe -
Hervé COUTAU-BÉGARIE, PhD
New topics within the Black Sea geopolitics by the end of 2006 - Grigore ALEXANDRESCU, PhD
NATO AND EU: POLITICS, STRATEGIES, AND ACTIONS
Identité nationale et identité européenne
- Petre DUŢU, PhD
The European security environment: coordination, cooperation, competition -
Pascu FURNICĂ
EU professional development concept in the field of ESDP. Consequences for the Romanian policemen and gendarmes’ education and training -
Marius MILITARU, Ion DRAGOMAN, PhD
The Acquis of Justice and Home Affairs - Victor AELENEI, PhD
Equality of chances in the European Union - Mirela ATANASIU
SECURITY AND MILITARY STRATEGY
Air Power misapplication and its effects at strategic level -
Mihail ORZEAŢĂ, PhD
Security strategies on the early XXIst century -
Sorin MOISE, PhD
The manoeuvrist approach to the Long War -
Alin BODESCU
ANALYSIS. SYNTHESIS. EVALUATIONS
Middle East: peace or confrontation? -
Constantin-Gheorghe BALABAN, PhD
US and National Missile Defence. Perspectives on two decades of debate -
Manuela BĂDĂLUŢĂ
STRATEGIC EVENT
The security impact on Romania’s accession to EU -
Vasile POPA
INFORMATIONAL SOCIETY. PEACE AND WAR
On the war’s traps -
Nicolae DOLGHIN, PhD
Crisis and war - Gheorghe VĂDUVA, PhD
TERRORISM. THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM
Elements of the global war on terrorism -
Gheorghe MINCULETE, PhD, Romică CERNAT
Suicidal terrorism - a global threat -
Ionel STOICA
Self terrorism -
Cristian DELCEA
CDSSS’ AGENDA
The activities of the Centre for Defence and Security Strategic Studies, October-December 2006 -
Irina CUCU
The Middle East, the Near East. Landmarks for a possible solution - Mircea MUREŞAN, PhD, Doina FILOTE
The world we live in is an interdependent one. Within this dimension of interdependency, the world progressed significantly and technology allowed the achievement of outstanding performances that bring us closer to the type of society we have always hoped for, one of free circulation of information, a powerful, integrated society characterized by knowledge in which man is the supreme being. Unfortunately, this perspective does not automatically solve the problems of the world, it does not bring the much hoped for peace, and it does not eliminate poverty, injustice, differences in development and conflicts. In our world that has an ultramodern component, around 45 million people die annually of hunger and malnutrition, while millions of others are forced to leave their homes and seek refuge and suffer because of wars, conflicts and calamities of all kinds.
Unité et diversité des cultures stratégiques en Europe -
Hervé COUTAU-BÉGARIE, PhD
Ainsi l’Europe s’aventure-t-elle enfin dans le domaine de la défense. Après de multiples tergiversations,
les pays de l’Union européenne se sont mis d’accord sur une politique de sécurité commune,
prélude à une politique commune de sécurité
et de défense. Il existe désormais une volonté politique, qui a engendré une dynamique institutionnelle.
Des objectifs ont été fixés, une structure européenne de défense commence à se dessiner, certes très laborieusement et en prenant grand soin de ne pas vouloir concurrences l’OTAN, mais enfin un tabou a été levé: l’Europe semble sur le point de se doter de la capacité militaire qui lui faisait jusqu’alors défaut et l’empêchait de s’affirmer
sur le scène internationale en tant qu’acteur à part entière. „Avec le militaire vous ne pouvez pas tout faire, mais sans le militare vous ne pouvez rien faire”. (Raymond Aron).
Savoir s’il sera possible de s’affranchir de tous les obstacles est encore prématuré. On se heurte ici au problème central qui ne peut plus être èludé: la défense est, plus encore que la monnaie, l’attribut
suprême de la souveraineté, ultima ratio regum.
L’Europe de la défense n’existera vraiment que le jour ou l’Europe sera pleinement une entité politique, quelle que soit sa forme juridique. Force est de constater que nous en sommes encore loin, que les États n’etendent pas abdiquer leur compétences
en la matière et que l’Union européenne semble dès lors condamnée à continuer, pendant un temps encore indéterminé, la politique des petits
pas.
New topics within the Black Sea geopolitics by the end of 2006 - Grigore ALEXANDRESCU, PhD
Next year will bring, together with Romania and Bulgaria’ accession to EU, the Eastern border of the community space to the Black Sea Shores. The event could not be overlooked either by the European Union or the neighbouring countries. The interferences between the European policy and the riparian countries’ policies have become to reverberate in the Black Sea geopolitics. Their accents have become more and more acute around the NATO Summit that is to be held this November. That will be the moment when states from this region will try to do their best, hoping they will be accepted as potential candidates.
Identité nationale et identité européenne
- Petre DUŢU, PhD
L’identité nationale et identité européenne sont deux concepts fortement véhiculent dans les mass media et dans les discours de politiciens. Tous les deux cherchent de décrire les principaux caractéristiques des groupes grands de gens qui vivent et travaillent en commun, soit grâce leurs volonté, soit grâce leur développement au fil du temps. Certes est le fait que l’identité représente tant une donnée (voir l’identité nationale), qu’une construction volontaire et conscient (voir l’identité européenne).
The European security environment: coordination, cooperation, competition -
Pascu FURNICĂ
This article briefly analyzes the relations among the three major European Institutions (namely OSCE, NATO and European Union), comparing them in some relevant domains (enlargement, evolution of functions/responsibilities and coordination of transformation processes). The aim is to identify where do they co-ordinate, where do they overlap and where do they compete. The level of analysis chosen in this is the systemic one, trying to identify the inter-action between the evolutions of the respective institutions.
EU professional development concept in the field of ESDP. Consequences for the Romanian policemen and gendarmes’ education and training -
Marius MILITARU, Ion DRAGOMAN, PhD
Authors analyse the consequences the EU’s concept on professional training in ESDP area has on the Romanian policemen and gendarmes’ education and training. Multinational operations imply using the national states’ military and police forces under the competent international organizations’ mandate. The professional requirements that the members of this force must meet, regarding the education and training, are usually foreseen in the agreements the organization that sets up the multinational force concludes with each member state, either a large structure (EU), an ad-hoc structure (UN operations) or a permanent alliance (NATO).
The Acquis of Justice and Home Affairs - Victor AELENEI, PhD
Justice and Internal Affairs Acquis represents the European paradigm conceived to insure freedom, security and justice for all the citizens of the old continent, contributing to the general welfare. European and national institutions that manage Internal Affairs and Justice must permanently watch over and counterattack organized crime at international level in order to protect life within the European community.
Equality of chances in the European Union - Mirela ATANASIU
All the human beings are born free and equal in their dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and must behave each other in the fraternity spirit. Every human being can prevail by all his rights and freedoms proclaimed in the present Declaration (n.b. The Human Rights’ Universal Declaration) no matter the race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, by national or social origin, wealth, born or any other circumstances. The equality of chances can really assure when there won’t be made no differences taking into account the political, judicial or international state’s situation or its territory that detains from a person, no matter that country or territory is independent, under tutority, non-autonomous or obeyed to a sovereignty infringement. Every human being has the right to life, freedom and its own person security. On this base, which comprises the entire European legislation in the field, is built the chance’ equality in European Union, subject approached in the present article.
Air Power misapplication and its effects at strategic level -
Mihail ORZEAŢĂ, PhD
As an outgrowth of the creative imagination of some visionary builders, airplane embodied many enthusiasts’ hopes, which deeply believed that they, finally, found out the key for rapidly gaining the victory in war. By overestimating the new weapon capability and also uncorrelated with real potential goals, several strategists and even military theoreticians ended in creating the impression that airplane was a sort of “oversold stock” as it could not meet the expectations during World War I. Another category of military experts, generally people with a limited creative imagination, exerted great efforts and succeeded, for a rather long period of time to create a false impression that air force was a kind of “long-range artillery” and it should, therefore, be particularly employed in land force support and not to accomplish missions aiming at strategic purposes.
Security strategies on the early XXIst century -
Sorin MOISE, PhD
Identifying the security strategies and policies at the beginning of the XXIst century is tantamount to defining security. The major mutations of the international relations in the late XXth century, following the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and the South-Eastern European countries, have led to a new pattern of power relations, with unmediated consequences for the international and national security. As the only superpower, the United States has global responsibilities that forge their role as the supreme world leader on the international stage. On the other hand, the Russian Federation, while striving to build a democratic society, aims mainly to restore its image of a great power on the international scene, which was seriously damaged in the aftermath of the fall of communism. Analysing the trends in Asia-Pacific entails pertinent conclusions for the security strategies and policies, as the main focus of the American foreign policy is acknowledged to have set in this region.
The manoeuvrist approach to the Long War -
Alin BODESCU
The aim of this article is to highlight the General Abizaid’s manoeuvrist approach to crises in the world’s hottest region.
Middle East: peace or confrontation? - Constantin-Gheorghe BALABAN, PhD
When it seemed that, at last, it was reached an agreement and the world hoped in a peace beginning in Middle East, that may be lasting, the events on the field completely turn around this eventuality. Here comes a conclusion: the logic of the Near East and Middle East is not yet an understandable one. The most optimistic and probable predictions with 100% realizable chances proved to be unrealizable.
US and National Missile Defence. Perspectives on two decades of debate -
Manuela BĂDĂLUŢĂ
This article sets out the history of US NMD programmes and the design and technical challenges of the proposed system. The presentation is chronological, as it is related to national defence objectives, the critical technical problems in achieving these objectives. The US National Missile Defence (NMD) programme aims to protect the US against a limited number of ballistic missiles, fired from a “state of concern”. NMD plans have attracted criticism that it is technically difficult to implement and risks destabilising international security by undermining nuclear arms control.
The security impact on Romania’s accession to EU -
Vasile POPA
Romania’s alignment – at the 1st of January 2007 – to the European Union’s member states represents the strategic event with the best impact in the close reality and also in perspective. An eagerly expected moment by millions of Romanians, the integration into the European community is, among the numerous economic and social advantages, a remarkable security benefit. Romania’s post-accession development will build solid pillars for defence, public order and national safety institutions. Surpassing the threshold that today separates it from the EU’s countries will assure Romania the necessary capabilities for the field’s infrastructure renewing, the material, financial and human potential growth which will permit the approach to the NATO and EU exigency level of the military missions.
On the war’s traps - Nicolae DOLGHIN, PhD
Nowadays conflicts are seldom consequences of certain military realities. Generated by political, economical, social, ethnical, territorial, religious, etc., sources, or, as in most of the cases, by their combinations, they are followed-up by confrontations where solutions are looked for by armed violence. Seldom wars and military conflicts end the way intended by their initiators. Wars are nonlinear, because results are not either proportional to the inputs or equal to the sum of its compounds. Wars are just as nonlinear as politics. They have the capacity to adapt to modifications, chances, uncertainties generated by the nonlinearity that, in its turn, generates synergy, innovation, changes and continuity. All of them are turned into concrete forms by traps, planned or not, wished or accidental, minor or dramatically ended. Within these traps there is a little attention paid to the potential differences, even the astonishing ones. Traps have their own rules. We guess them in the wars developed in the last years: Chechnya and Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East and in all the others less presented by media.
Crisis and war - Gheorghe VĂDUVA, PhD
The war is a complex social phenomenon, a limit-phenomenon. It belongs to a social essence which is confrontation. By all means, not all the confrontations are wars, but each war is a confrontation, namely, a violent armed one. The war isn’t a curse or a catastrophe, even if sometimes leads to inconceivable human, material, ecology and cultural disasters. War is a reality of all the times. It’s a mean to open up a strategic situation. It’s a way to end or to emphasize a crisis, to prolong, to bring it to a limit-threshold from where the change, the mutation follows. This is the case of the revolutionary war. But, the war isn’t a state, even if often people are powerless confronting it. It isn’t a punishment, a fatality; it’s a resultant of some political, economic, social, ideological, psychological vectors that are in a state of confrontation, incompatibility or competence. After all, war is an act of political will namely a violent instrument of politics for getting out of a crisis.
Elements of the global war on terrorism -
Gheorghe MINCULETE, PhD, Romică CERNAT
The terrorism, the large threat of the 21st century, imposed the beginning of the global war against it. If we accept one of the former secretary of state of United State assertion as “the war against terrorism is the future war”, then, there is no doubt that the preoccupations to analyse and predict specific features are more than necessary. The complete image of this new type of war must be sketched step by step, on the base of an assiduous study of existing information, researches realised by specialised institutions, new elements identified by war phenomena analysts. And such an approach may prove very difficult, because, according to John Terrraine’s vision, the modern war is similar a cobweb and, we consider that the study of this complex structure offers the most unexpected conclusions.
Suicidal terrorism - a global threat -
Ionel STOICA
A suicidal terrorist attack is an act by which one or more attackers kill other persons and they also die in the process. The terrorist is fully aware that if he does not die, then the planned act will not be achieved. Nowadays such kind of attacks is carried out by detonating the explosive transported by the terrorist either with cars (called vehicle borne improvised explosive devices) or as explosive belts or explosive vests. Due to its advantages, this “weapon” was frequently used along the time. If we refer only to modern times, the Japanese kamikaze pilots used it during the Second World War (they blew up their own aircrafts upon the American vessels in Pacific Ocean), different terrorist and extremist groups employed it, too, as well as the resistance movements, including the guerrilla and insurgent groups.
Self terrorism -
Cristian DELCEA
The identity of self-terrorism is the result of the process of exploration and structure of its own characteristics, having as a result the interface terrorism – target-group. Self-terrorism is the essential indicator of all antisocial behaviours in the name of some ideological cognitions or political-religious doctrines found in contradiction with human, moral, legislative and cultural reasons. Self-terrorism also represents the cognitive interface of self criminal identity in which its politics, ideologies, algorithm and the heuristic anti-social steps are included. The latest research emphasizes the new identity of modern terrorism, which has new behaviourist forms. Some cognitions of terrorism concept varied so much that the real identity of this phenomenon was lost, easily passing from simple labels for violence forms that cannot be associated with terrorism to biases from the government people. For the first time in the history of terrorism, self terrorism is a paradox or a “nebula” concept for researches and government. Moreover, the concept of self-terrorism hasn’t been outlined yet, for cultural, social, religious, political and legislative reasons. This article will perform a critical analysis on the present theories and researches about the identity of (self) terrorism today, also proposing a cognitive criterion in order to understand it.