Possibilities of Powering Military Equipment Based on Renewable Energy Sources

Nowadays, the land forces of the Republic of Poland use mainly two forms of powering their equipment and military devices: by connecting various devices to the national power grid and by diesel-electric generators of individual vehicles. With the first solution, power cuts have to be taken into account. In the latter case, it is necessary to ensure large fuel deliveries on a timely manner. It entails a search for new solutions able to effectively meet the needs of an individual soldier and command posts. It has inspired engineers to work on renewable energy sources. This review paper presents a concept for photovoltaic cells usage and a concept for air turbines used to charge electric power sources of different powers for the individual needs of soldiers and command posts. Examples of solutions for mobile energy systems are presented in the research work. They were verified in terms of their suitability for military applications. The concept of using a personal device to supply power for charging batteries and elements of individual soldier equipment, including low-power radio stations, has been presented as well.

On Qualification of the Phenomenon of Hybridism of the Use of Force and the Problem of Interference in Internal Affairs of a State

The purpose of this article is to eliminate methodological discrepancies in the definition of the problem of “hybrid” use of force and the possibility of using this construct when interfering in the internal affairs of states. In any conflict situation, the behavior of states in moving towards their national goals can be explained through how they do combine and synchronize (as it is often defined at the present time — «hybrid») the use of means of compellence and coercion available to them. In general, conceptually «hybrid war» can be described as “the synchronized use of multiple instruments of national power, specially selected to obtain mutually reinforcing effects on specific vulnerabilities across the entire spectrum of social processes. The substance of the modern security environment has led to an increase in the number of areas of conflict of interests of actors, the complexity and dynamism of conflicts, and the unpredictability of their outcomes. The formation of the practice of attribution of international responsibility, and the development of the international institutions supporting it, took place gradually and, ultimately, led to such a development of the international security environment, which made an appeal to «hybridity» to promote national interests in the process of political competition of social groups or individuals with divergent interests for power inevitable. The problem of terminology is one of the main obstacles to a clear understanding of the operation of the «hybridity» construct in political competition. The active use of the definition «hybrid» by propaganda in combination with the terms «war», «threats», «hostilities in the gray zone», «operations», «tactics», «competition does not turn into a state of war» political discourse, since these terms are almost never linked to the definition of the desired state of international relations by the state leadership. And if we are talking about the outcome of the collision of interests of actors in competition or conflict, then this desired result is «historically» defined by the term «victory». Thus, the definition of the substance of «victory» is a necessary initial point to onset analyzing the possibilities of turning to any of the instruments of national power in a «hybrid» confrontation.

The Ranking of the Western Balkan Countries According to the Degree of Globalization

Globalization does not have the same impact on countries, it acts differently in countries with different levels of political, economic, social and technological development. Its unequal distribution by region, country or community confirms that it is a complex and deeply asymmetric process. It is confirmed by numerous theories and debates that only explained and defined the phenomenon, but paid little attention to the complexity of globalization and measuring its extent. Empirical indicators can be used to measure the differences between the national and the international in different domains. In this way, it is possible to see to what extent the countries are globalized, i.e., to see the strong influence of globalization processes on the overall state of society. That is why a large number of countries try to use the processes of globalization to promote national interests and improve their position in international relations. Therefore, the analysis of the indexes of globalization will help us to understand with which components of national power the countries dominate on the regional and global scene. The focus of the research is on the analysis of several globalization indexes that include the countries of the Western Balkan. Namely, the degree of globalization of countries is empirically analyzed through the prism of several different indicators that are constructed to measure the overall index of globalization, as well as to measure the political, economic and social dimension of globalization. The inclusion of a larger number of variables enables a more objective and accurate ranking of countries. As the results of the globalization rating of the Western Balkan countries show, it is concluded that the processes of globalization greatly contribute to strengthening and improving cooperation between countries, intensify interdependence, affect Euro-Atlantic integration processes, stimulate economic growth and improve the situation in societies. However, according to the elaborated data, these countries are still in the phase of adjustment or “maturation”, therefore, they are in the category of partially globalized countries.

National Economic Power. Dynamic Model

The national power can be considered in a static and dynamic aspect as well. This applies to all dimensions of the national power, both military and non-military, including the economic one presented in this article. The national power, treated in a static sense as one of the leading features of the state and estimated over a given period, can only be descriptive. On the other hand, it gains a new dimension in a dynamic sense that consists in the possibility of developing the research into a prognostic area. Therefore, this approach to the issue of the national power has been presented here. The research hypothesis is that on the basis of available statistical data it is possible to construct a verifiable dynamic descriptive model of the national economic power, which enables comparative analyses of the group of selected countries. The research took advantage of statistical methods of selecting variables for linear models and methods of system analysis, including multi-criteria, taxonomic method of comparative analysis. Analyses that have been performed allowed to create a dynamic descriptive model of the national power in the economic sphere. The constructed model was positively verified based on the available figures for the selected group of countries. The conducted calculations suggest that it is possible to use this model for further analyses of the national power in the economic sphere.

China-Europe Strategic Issues

Today, a shakeup of forces and a great power competition have begun on the global geopolitical scene. This competition is mainly due to the rise of China, the deepening of globalization and the interdependence of countries, and violent movements that transcend borders, such as international terrorism. In particular, the increase in China's national power has led to a change in the world order that emerged after the Cold War, and geopolitics is once again taking a central role on the global agenda. The geopolitical focus on the Asia-Indo-Pacific Ocean complex has evolved into a geostrategic rivalry where China is seen as the main threat. This approach is reflected in the international security strategy. In addition, it also manifests itself in the practices of international organizations led by the West forces. We see the most important example of this in the European Union's view of China.

Współczesne praktyki upamiętniania Wielkiej Wojny Ojczyźnianej w Kazachstanie

The history of the Great Patriotic War has now become a hostage to political games and the ambitions of a national power. The collapse of the Soviet Union not only led to the development of the republics, but also transformed the politics of memory concerning Soviet history. This article analyses contemporary practices of commemorating the Great Patriotic War in Kazakhstan. It is one of the few Central Asian republics that continues to celebrate 9 May. The author analyses cultural memory in the post-Soviet area using the example of Kazakhstan and shows how contemporary practices of commemorating the Great Patriotic War developed. She also shows the state practices of the social and communicative transmission of the history of Kazakhstan’s participation in the Great Patriotic War.

Research on Optimization of Power Emergency Material Dispatching for Beijing Winter Olympics

The Beijing Winter Olympic Games is an extremely important event, and the supply of electricity is the basis for it. In order to prevent the sudden loss of power to the event, it is necessary to carry out power repair and restore normal power supply in the shortest possible time. Contemporary research is less focused on the emergency repair of power systems. This thesis studies the dispatching of power emergency materials in two stages and in the first stage, the minimum gap rate and the shortest time for material dispatching and transportation are mainly considered, and the required types of power emergency materials are dispatched from the storage near the Olympic venues to various power failure points. In the second stage, aiming at the shortage of power emergency materials at each fault point, the power emergency materials will be dispatched from the rear national power grid regional material reserve to the power emergency materials reserve near the Olympic venues and then dispatched to each power fault point through the power emergency materials reserve. Finally, this paper verifies the effectiveness of the combination of the primary and secondary dispatching models in an example, providing a reference for further improving the emergency response capability of the Olympic venues and improving the safety system of the power system.