scholarly journals 20 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY MILITARY CHALLENGES

2018 ◽  
pp. 23-26
Author(s):  
LILIANA BROŽIČ
Keyword(s):  
Military History ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
International Standards ◽  
General Staff ◽  
Subject Field ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Military Schools ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Military

Reading the title of this editorial, many might think that Contemporary Military Challenges have not been published for so many years, and that before there was another publication, entitled Bulletin of the Slovenian Armed Forces. In a way, this is, of course, true. Nevertheless, this year indeed marks 20 years since the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces began to publish its own publication, at the time called the Bulletin of the Slovenian Armed Forces. Its purpose was to inform the internal and external public about the novelties in the fields of security, defence and the military or better armed forces. Normally, in NATO and EU member states, professional and scientific defence-related works are published by ministries of defence, or research institutes within the ministries, which issue publications on defence-strategy related topics. General Staffs, however, publish their own publications, which are typically intended for military professionals. Educational organizational units usually issue publications intended for the publication of graduation thesis of students at various levels of military education, while military museums or related units are responsible for the development of topics relating to military history. Following this concept, the publication Vojstvo (Armed Forces) was published between 1996 and 2000 by the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia. The General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces first published the Bulletin of the Slovenian Armed Forces in 1999. The date written in the first issue is September 1999; however, according to the co-workers who contributed to this success, the first issue was in fact printed in November 1999. In addition to the Contemporary Military Challenges, two other periodicals are being published in the Slovenian Armed Forces, namely, Vojaškošolski zbornik (Military Schools Bulletin), issued by the Military Schools Centre, and Vojaška zgodovina (Military History) issued by the Military Museum, which also forms a part of the Military School Centre. The gap, which occurred after Vojstvo was no longer published, was gradually filled by the Bulletin of the Slovenian Armed Forces, later the Modern Military Challenges, which publishes scientific and professional articles by Slovenian and foreign authors. The name of the publication was changed upon the advice of Editorial Board members on the grounds that the name “bulletin” did not reflect the contents or the subject field of the publication. In the dictionary of standard Slovene, the Slovene equivalent for “bulletin” is defined as a short official message to the public, a note, an informative periodical or newsletter. Consequently, the editorial board undertook the demanding task of finding a new name for the publication and found the name Contemporary Military Challenges. Much work and effort have been invested in the production of a military publication. The majority of those who contributed to this effort were engaged primarily on their own initiative, in private time. Writing articles according to international standards requires order, effort and discipline. Many gave up before they even started to write and, the authors who did write articles for this military publication, in most cases, departed from the average further down their careers. The authors were numerous. Sixty people have been members of the editorial board between the beginning of the publication and the end of 2018. Since 2008, when peer review was introduced, 279 authors have contributed their articles, many of them repeatedly. The one especially standing out is a Slovenian Armed Forces Major who has written 10 articles. The list of all referees includes 103 names. The referee who has contributed the largest number of reviews is a Brigadier General with 54 reviews. There are also 18 referees who have contributed more than ten reviews. The long years of effort have been fruitful and resulted in a fact that, in 2010, the Slovenian Armed Forces publication was indexed in the PAIS International database within Proquest. Consequently, it was included in the list of the journals of the Slovenian Research Agency. For the publication of articles in the Contemporary Military Challenges, the authors are therefore granted 30 academic points. Year No of articles Scientific articles Professional articles Editorial 2017 24 21 (87.5%) 3 (12.5%) 5 2016 25 18 (72%) 7 (28%) 5 2015 21 10 (48%) 11 (52%) 4 2014 25 16 (64%) 9 (36%) 4 2013 24 12 (50%) 12 (50%) 10 2012 26 11 (44%) 14 (56%) 4 2011 31 17 (54%) 14 (45%) 4 2010 45 17 (37%) 28 (62%) 4 2009 42 18 (43%) 24 (57%) 7 There is no need to worry about the quality of the contents in the future, since the editorial board and the editorial council provide a wide range of authors from various fields, institutions and countries. On the 20th anniversary of the publication, appreciation goes to every single person who has contributed to the fact that, even when everything did not run smoothly, the publication kept going and was regularly published. There have been and still are individuals who have contributed more, better and with more motivation, but everyone deserves credit for the success of the publication. In this last issue of the jubilee year, the authors devoted themselves to very topical subjects.

MILITARY KNOWLEDGE IN A CONTEMPORARY SECURITY SETTING

2019 ◽  
pp. 7-10
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
General Staff ◽  
Military Schools ◽  
History Of ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Military

This year's first issue focuses on military knowledge in a contemporary security setting. The autumn of 2017 marked the beginning of the General Staff Course of Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) members. This was the eighth generation of the General Staff Course in the history of the Slovenian Armed Forces and independent Slovenia. After the students completed their training in the beginning of October 2018 with a ceremony held at the Military Schools Centre, some of them decided to publish an article in the Contemporary Military Challenges.

American Military History: A Very Short Introduction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph T. Glatthaar
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Military History ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
American Military ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Strong Position ◽  
The Military

American Military History: A Very Short Introduction outlines the forces shaping the American military for the past 400 years. Since the colonial period, the United States has struggled to balance standing armed forces with citizen soldiers and sailors. Technological developments and two world wars forced the military to embrace professionalism and its increased obligations. The United States emerged from World War II in a strong position but failed to recognize the limits of its power, a legacy that some might say continues. Recent wars highlight some of the problems of a volunteer-dominated force. To succeed, the American military needs improved communication, understanding, and support.

Iran's military set for more aggressive stance in Gulf

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
General Staff ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Defence Budget ◽  
Intelligence Collection ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military ◽  
Major General

Significance Tensions between the Gulf states and Iran have escalated significantly in 2016, in the wake of Iran's signing of a landmark deal in 2015 that brought to an end the decade-long dispute over its nuclear programme. The response of Iran's military to the heightened tensions will be partly influenced by the new chairman of the Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS), the country's top military body, Major General Mohamad Hossein Bagheri. Impacts A more assertive and non-compromising IRGC will increase pressure on President Hassan Rouhani as he seeks re-election in 2017. Improvements in intelligence collection and dissemination are likely in Syria, aimed at reducing Iranian casualties. The military and government are likely to clash soon over the defence budget and its allocation. The government will try to keep the IRGC in check by tipping the media off about alleged financial wrongdoings. With the next US president expected to adopt a harder-line stance on Iran, the diplomatic rapprochement may be reversed partially.

scholarly journals THE PROBLEM OF STUDYING THE MILITARY HISTORY OF THE HISTORY OF KAZAKHSTAN

2020 ◽  
pp. 568-574
Author(s):  
M.B. Magulov
Keyword(s):  
Military History ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Colonial Policy ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Regular Army ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Military ◽  
First World

This article examines the historical and military-historical research of Soviet, Kazakh and Russian scientists, the history of the creation of the armed forces on the territory of Kazakhstan, their formation and development. In Soviet historiography, the development of all national republics, especially their military history, was interpreted through the prism of the history of Russia or the Russian people. For many years, materials from this period (from the beginning of the 20th century until the collapse of the USSR) were not covered in the historical literature. For ideological reasons, the colonial policy of the Russian Empire was hushed up, especially during the First World War, when the "eastern aliens" were not drafted into the regular army, were used only in rear work, because the ruling elite did not trust them with weapons. This period has now begun to be viewed in a different way on the basis of new sources and began to acquire new content. At the same time, the author is guided by such a principle of scientific knowledge as historicism, consistency, comparatively comparable analysis and generalization.

scholarly journals Review of the Materials of the Baron F. F. Turnau’s Military Survey Expeditions on the Black Sea Coast of the Caucasus in the 1830s

2020 ◽  
pp. 664-675
Author(s):  
Dmitry S. Tkachenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Military History ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
General Staff ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Black Sea Coast ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Military ◽  
Sea Coast

The article analyses the corpus of documents from the fonds of the Russian State Military History Archive, formed in the 1830s during the General Staff officer Feodor Turnau’s expeditions of to the Black Sea coast zone, which lay outside the Imperial control. Although his activities among the Circassian tribes can be termed one of the best Russian secret scouting missions and his memoirs published in 1864 are still considered an important source for studying the military and political history of the region, materials and reports of the survey missions have never been examined in modern Caucasus studies. The author compares the data included by Turnau in his secret reports to the Imperial authorities with what he mentioned in his memoirs. It shows which issues the Imperial authorities and the Caucasus Army command were interested in during the Russo-highlanders confrontation of the second half of the 1830s. The materials collected by F. F. Turnau can be useful not only in terms of clarifying certain aspects of his personal activities, but also in demonstrating the running of secret survey scouting in unexplored and dangerous ethnic territories off the Imperial frontier. They show high erudition and good training of the candidates selected from the ranks of the General Staff officers to run these scouting missions. The correspondence of the Caucasus Army commander with the central authorities in St. Petersburg on the issue of Turnau’s captivity shows differences in their understanding of the Russo-Caucasus relations. The author comes to the conclusion that the corpus of collected materials on topography, ethnography, political and cultural description of the Transkubanian region peoples could have formed a basis for a revision of the Imperial stand on the subjugation of tribal groups. Although this political alternative was missed, the materials collected by Turnau became a precious addition to the Caucasus studies source base.

scholarly journals Comparative analyses of technical characteristics of modern models of personal respiratory protective equipment

2019 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-55
Author(s):  
L.A. Ustinova ◽  
R.M. Shvets ◽  
N.V. Kurdil ◽  
V.A. Barkevych ◽  
V.I. Saglo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Information ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Respiratory Protection ◽  
Military Equipment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Operational Service

ABSTRACT. This article analyses the main features of respiratory protective equipment used during combat actions under the conditions of chemical and radiation contamination. Objective: To study the technical characteristics of respiratory protective equipment that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are equipped with for compliance with NATO standards. Materials and methods. Analysis of sources of scientific information about respiratory protective equipment in operational service with Ukraine and NATO have been conducted. Study methods used: analytical, historical, bibliographic, systematic and informational approach. Results and discussion. It was established that the majority of respiratory protective equipment that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are equipped with has been manufactured before 1991. Their shelf lives exceed the acceptable ones, and the standards by which they were manufactured do not meet modern requirements. The authors have defined the principal directions for improving respiratory protective equipment: versatility for various tactical tasks; possibility of use along with optical devices; compliance of intercommunication systems and breathing valves with NATO standards; providing respiratory protection against a wide range of chemicals; long shelf life; resistance to special treatment means (degassing); possibility of rapid switch to combat position; portability and ease of use. Conclusion. Modern technical characteristics of respiratory protective equipment should comply with the nature of the threats and the best international standards. An important direction in the development of weaponry and military equipment in Ukraine is the improvement of domestic technologies and development of own production of personal protective equipment, technologically compatible with the samples that are in the operational service with NATO countries. Keywords: military toxicology, military radiology, medical protection, respiratory protective equipment.

scholarly journals PERSPEKTIVE IN IZZIVI SLOVENSKEGA VOJAŠKEGA ŠOLSTVA

2021 ◽  
pp. 29-42
Author(s):  
VALERIJA BERNIK
Keyword(s):  
Education System ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Military Education ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
The Public ◽  
Military Schools ◽  
Study Programme ◽  
Training Post ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Eu

Vojaško izobraževanje je v Slovenski vojski organizirano znotraj Centra vojaških šol in ima že tridesetletno tradicijo. Zaradi hitrih sprememb na področju vojaštva in težnje po enakopravnem vključevanju v evropski in okvir Nata se tudi slovenski sistem vojaškega šolstva srečuje z izzivi, povezanimi z zagotavljanjem visoke kakovosti. Prizadevanja na tem področju so usmerjena predvsem v vključevanje v javni izobraževalni sistem. V zadnjem času nam je uspelo vzpostaviti Višjo vojaško strokovno šolo in akreditirati višješolski študijski program Vojaški menedžment. Posodobitev sistema izobraževanja častnikov ostaja izziv tudi zaradi omejitev trenutne nacionalne zakonodaje. Ključne besede Vojaško izobraževanje in usposabljanje, višješolsko strokovno izobraževanje, visokošolsko izobraževanje Abstract Military education in the Slovenian Armed Forces is provided by the Military Schools Centre and has a thirty-year tradition. Due to rapid changes in the military, and the desire for equal integration into the EU and NATO framework, the Slovenian military education system has been facing high quality-assurance challenges. The efforts in this area are mainly focus on the integration of military education into the public education system. Recently, we have managed to establish the Higher Military Vocational School (NCO College) and accredit the higher vocational study programme Military Management. Due to the limitations dictated by the current national legislation, the modernization of the officer education system also remains a challenge. Key words Military education and training, post-secondary vocational education, higher education

scholarly journals EDITORIAL

2013 ◽  
pp. 9-10
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Short Review ◽  
General Staff ◽  
Professional Literature ◽  
Editorial Boards ◽  
Military Literature ◽  
Look Ahead ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Creation

Welcome to the new issue of the Contemporary Military Challenges, which differs from others. The most loyal readers will soon notice that they already know the authors and that the discussed subjects are not really topical. Strange? Not really. This issue concludes the period, very important for military literature in Slovenia. We have been issuing our publication for fifteen years. Originally titled Slovenian Armed Forces Bulletin, the publication was later renamed Contemporary Military Challenge. This time, the publication, issued by the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces, is devoted to executive and managing editors who have contributed to the creation of the publication in the past. According to the Editorial Board, they have probably been the ones most responsible and certainly persistent enough to provide for a continued issuing of the publication. Still more, with time, the publication was issued more frequently and regularly, while the level of quality increased. Upon its fifteenth anniversary, we wish to extend our appreciation to all who have in any way contributed to the creation of this publication. On this occasion, we have collected the editorials of executive and managing editors, marking important anniversaries or changes in our publication, as well as some of the first articles written for this publication. In the first part, the editorials point to the main three reasons, which led the then Chief of the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces to prepare the first issue of the publication. All other editorials, however, give a detailed description of the purpose and goals of the publication. They offer a short review of the work accomplished by the editorial boards, illustrate the current situation and provide a look ahead. It is our firm belief that such presentation best reflects the development of the publication on its anniversary. The majority of executive and managing editors have also made the effort to write for the publication, thus setting an example for the creation of military professional literature. They have built and developed their professional, some of them also their academic, careers. Their early works, published in the second part of this jubilee issue, present the approaches and motives leading to the reflexions about the military then and in the future. A special chapter is devoted to the presentation of authors and their career paths. I extend my sincere gratitude to all executive and managing editors for their contribution to the development of the publication; all members of editorial boards for the invested effort; proof-readers for their care for the Slovenian language; translators for the quality transfer of Slovenian thoughts into the international environment, and all those who have never been mentioned, but have made the issuing of the final product possible. We continue to count on all of those who have cooperated with us so far and, of course, on those would wish to do so in the future. The Contemporary Military Challenges will serve as the opportunity to share our knowledge, findings and experiences with those employed with the Slovenian Armed Forces as well as those from the wider environment. This will provide us with an opportunity to prove our expertise, which was the aim of the first and all of the following executive and managing editors. Since 2010, the Contemporary Military Challenges has been indexed in an international database, which means that the publication has been recognised both scientifically and professionally. Our goal is to index the publication in additional databases as well as to expand and enhance cooperation with other editorial boards.

Military History

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Lamphear
Keyword(s):  
Military History ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Military Studies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Independence Era ◽  
Military Revolution ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Military

Until fairly recently, most African military history was portrayed in terms of antithetical stereotypes. Until about the mid-20th century, Western observers often described a “dark continent” of incessant conflict waged by savage warriors. The independence era brought radically different perspectives, however, as Africanist scholars, seeking to refute allegations of rampant violence, often depicted African warfare as harmlessly ritualistic. For many years, while informed reconstructions of African social, economic, environmental, and gender history appeared, the scholarly attention paid to African military history was generally sparse and superficial. To many, African military studies were deemed politically incorrect, and few Africanists could be considered (or indeed would consider themselves) military historians. From about 1965 to 1980, there was a brief surge in academic interest in military history, during which some studies still regarded as pioneering classics were written. Many of those focused on the 19th century, and especially on resistance to imperial conquest. But in certain parts of the continent, notably North Africa, African military history was written not just by Africanist scholars but by classicists who examined it within the context of the ancient Mediterranean world, and Islamic and European historians who viewed it in terms of comparative global themes: struggles for religious ascendancy, the spread of gunpowder weapons, and the Military Revolution. As burgeoning conflict beset the continent in the post-independence era, attention to military studies increased, often with the goal of effecting conflict resolution. From the 1990s, as horrific “ragged” warfare became ever more prevalent, a veritable flood of investigations appeared, most written by social scientists rather than historians. Also, to an extent far beyond other sub-fields, African military history often has been written not for an academic readership but for varied audiences. Much of this historical writing has taken the form of popular history aimed at general readers or military buffs, and other studies have been written for specialized audiences such as professional soldiers, war gamers, or students of uniformology. While academics have typically denigrated such works, some popular histories have represented important milestones in the evolution of African military historiography and have immensely impacted wider perceptions of African warfare. What many would deem the minutiae of military costume or the intricacies of combat performance sometimes hold valuable keys to understanding broader aspects of African military culture and ethos. This article strives to reflect the rich, diverse historiography of African military history by providing the reader with a wide range of studies chosen to enhance an appreciation of this vast and complex topic. It is also hoped that the bibliography will help the reader to appreciate that the study of Africa’s military heritage, far from being aberrant or irrelevant, in fact illuminates a vital, ongoing thread of the African historical experience.

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