Possibilities of implementing the performance management process of non-profit organizations to the defence system

The current manner of evaluating the state and capabilities of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces is gradually losing its relevance and partially deviates from the contemporary trends, which is why the paper singles out a special research problem, aimed at overcoming the traditional understanding of performance management, i.e. gradual introduction of the performance management process into the defense system. Taking into consideration the complexity of the mentioned research problem and the current level of the development of the defense system of the Republic of Serbia, the subject of the research is based on the possibility of considering the implementation of the performance management process of non-profit organizations within the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces. In this regard, the paper starts from the hypothetical view that certain elements of the performance management model of non-profit organizations can be successfully implemented within the defense system. The objective of this paper is to point out the possibility of developing similar solutions in the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces through the presentation of a strategic map and the dashboard of the performance management model of non-profit organizations, with a brief overview of the defense systems of some foreign countries. By the implementation of the method of content analysis, focused on the comparative analysis of the considered models, the research results have confirmed the set hypothetical framework. The paper concludes that there are the objective possibilities for the implementation of the performance management process of non-profit organizations within the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Armed Forces.

Model of identification of motivational factors for work of the Serbian Armed Forces professional members and their hierarchical organization

Motivation and work motivation are multidisciplinary topics important for the successful functioning of modern organizations. Opportunities to improve the effects and performance of all types of organizations by influencing employee motivation have resulted in a number of studies aimed at identifying motivational factors, their impact and hierarchy. Work motivational factors are numerous, and their impact and hierarchy are changeable and depend on socio-economic conditions, cultural determinants, as well as the individual characteristics of employees. In order to improve the motivation for work, there is a need to identify factors and their impact on the motivation and effects of the work of the Serbian Armed Forces professional members in their own cultural environment and the current set of socio-economic conditions. The objective of this paper is to develop a model for identifying motivational factors of the Serbian Armed Forces professional members and determine their impact and hierarchy. The paper will use the method of document content analysis in order to identify a list of motivational factors that will then be confirmed or rejected, depending on the results of research conducted using the research method, survey technique and statistical method. The paper presents a model for identifying work motivational factors and the results of a survey of the attitudes of a quota sample of 1401 Serbian Armed Forces professional members. The hierarchy of factors is presented and it has been concluded that good interpersonal relationships and salary amount have the most significant impact on the motivation for work of the Serbian Armed Forces professional members. The results of the research can be used for improving the motivation for work, normative acts, organizational structure and instruments for future research.

The new media strategy of the Serbian Armed Forces as an instrument of soft power

The paper elaborates the concept and significance of media policy and implements it to the Serbian Armed Forces. The importance of the media in the security sector at national and international level is analyzed and the need for good media representation of the Serbian Armed Forces is emphasized in order to support the public for important decisions concerning military and security issues. The concept of strategic communications and their relationship with the media policy that the Armed Forces should develop as one of the instruments of soft power, which is of interest not only to this system, but also to the state and society, has been presented. Moreover, the main elements are presented, whose fulfillment would create conditions for the establishment and conduct of an adequate media policy as an instrument of soft power.

The impact of the common security and defence policy of the European Union on the security of the Republic of Serbia

The answer to transnational and asymmetric threats that are a topical issue on the world geopolitical stage can be found in the integration of national security systems, strengthening multilateral forms of security and the collective system of international security, as the key factors in providing peace, stability and democratic development of modern countries. In such circumstances, the need for a cooperative approach in preserving and improving security, based on cooperation and pooling of security capacities of nation states, is strengthening. This paper views the current achievements of the European Union (hereinafter EU) in terms of implementing its own security policy, primarily in the Western Balkans, in a broader sense, and the specific impact of such a policy on the security of the Republic of Serbia, in a narrower sense. Having in mind the extensive and complex context of the discussed topic, the paper considers, in the authors' opinion, an essential part of this issue, through the analysis of the position of the Republic of Serbia in such context, reviewing the genesis of the EU-Serbia relations and identifying current issues in these relations, and also through the possibilities of progress of cooperation and greater involvement of the capacities of our country in the current EU security policy in this region and beyond.

Philosophical concept of the state power (social power) and the military (the armed force)

In the paper the author would like to explain why the concept of the social power is relevant for the state power, and why it is more appropriate for the military to talk about the armed force. Although he is acutely aware of the intertwining, reciprocity and closeness of the state power and the organization of the military, as well as the concepts of power and force, the author would like to emphasize their differences. It is not possible to talk about the power without the help and reliance on the armed force, and there is no armed force that does not view its meaning, task and goal in the state power. The military power can be independent only in short periods, but it immediately returns to the state power or the very military establishes the state power because it needs a source of legitimacy. What is the first and main rule is that we cannot talk anywhere about true power unless the one in power controls the armed force in his community, tribe, family, class, politics, state and society. It is simply impossible to imagine, let alone really happen, that the one who rules a community or society is not the supreme commander of the armed forces, as well. The main idea is to consider what are the inviolable spheres of the society in which politics should dominate, and where the best field of action of the armed forces is and how and in what way their relations, which are close, but often tense, are regulated.

Military cliques in the Serbian strategic culture of the 20th century

Throughout the entire 20th century, the Serbian strategic culture was "torn" by various discontinuities, from the state system, through foreign policy and ideological, to strategic and doctrinal orientation, and it can be said that discontinuity is almost its only constant. Nevertheless, the existence of military cliques can be considered to be one of the constants of the Serbian strategic culture. They followed the Serbian Army and influenced the political life of the Kingdom of Serbia. The dynastic coup of May 1903 can be taken as an example of their actions. After that, younger conspirators established the so-called Black Hand, whose leader was Colonel Apis, who was shot after the Thessaloniki process in 1917. The interwar period was marked by the action of the so-called White Hand, under the leadership of General Petar Živković, which was active until the assassination of King Alexander Karađorđević in Marseilles in 1934. The Second Yugoslavia even had a formalized "military clique" represented in the League of Communists, which was an integral part of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia at federal level, together with the republican leagues. Thus, the influence of the party on the military organization was secured, and the influence of the army in the society was also "secured" by its representation in the party forum at federal level. Consequently, the Serbian political elite welcomed the dissolution of the SFRY with perhaps the only constant in its strategic culture, and that is the reliance on the military in resolving political crises, which can be vividly presented by the statement of Slobodan Milosević: "We do not know how to work, but we know how to fight".

Battalion tactical groups of the Russian Armed Forces in the altered physiognomy of modern conflicts

The altered setting of current conflicts, its hybridity and nonlinearity affect the justification of the assumption that operations in several domains will become a new method of conducting operations of the Russian Armed Forces. The Russian Armed Forces battle groups are in practice known as battalion tactical groups (BTG). They have arisen in response to the problems regarding the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces units in local and small wars, and within the general transformation of the Russian Armed Forces, based on altered geopolitical and strategic circumstances. The basis of BTG consists of units from active brigades of the Russian Armed Forces, which are established modularly in accordance with the expressed needs and expected characteristics of operations. The first deployment of the Russian Armed Forces BTG was in the conflict in Ukraine, which has significantly improved their organization and deployment following the experiences from the mentioned conflict. The current deployment in the conflict in Syria greatly contributes to the maturing of the concept of BTG implementation in the expeditionary operations of the Russian Armed Forces. It can be expected that the Russian Armed Forces BTG will also play an increasingly important role in the future hotspots, in response to practical demands of modern hybrid wars.

Paper on the conceptual definition of the geo-topographic support

The Serbian Armed Forces support represents a part of the military activity aimed at creating conditions for the execution of missions and tasks. For successful support, it is necessary to establish the cooperation with relevant institutions of the Republic of Serbia. The conceptual definition of the geo-topographic support has been researched in the context of previous and current regulations, which have shown that the achievements of information and communications technology have influenced not only the development of the geographic information systems, but also directly the definition of this concept. The importance of the geographic information systems in the collection, processing, analysis and use of geospatial data has also determined the contents of the geo-topographic support. The continuous development of the geographic information systems in the direction of establishing a service-oriented approach to the distribution and use of geospatial data, will directly affect the future improvement of the content of the geo-topographic support. Such a process is accompanied by the establishment of the geo-topographic support principle, which should enable the construction and maintenance of a stable structure, in order to successfully carry out the assigned missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces.

Integration and disintegration in international relations as a consequence of global economic processes

The subject of this paper is integration as an objective tendency and the most important element of the current global processes and increasingly intensive disintegration processes. Qualitative analysis points to the main characteristics of integration as a consequence of growing interdependence, connectivity and cooperation and disintegration, which is strongly encouraged by the instrumentalization of this process for hidden and masked specific goals. The established process and the worrying and devastating implications in the economic and social function have been analysed. Emerging forces with current and potential geopolitical power as an alternative to the existing order are placed in the context of influencing both opposing processes. The research objective is to consider the inevitability of intertwining and the collision of integration and disintegration, a number of manifested economic and social problems as a consequence of global economic processes, while identifying the significance and impact of different coercive actions on the sustainability and possibility of the established process. The results indicate that the importance of the military force is growing rapidly; the polarization between the developing and developed world is getting deeper, and the border between them is a source of tension and conflict. The constant state of instability, clash and conflict has the potential for numerous and greater dangers in the world in the long run.

Cyberspace as a domain of conflict: The case of the United States - Iran and North Korea

Modern society is critically dependent on information as a strategic resource and information and communications technology, which carries out its transmission, processing and exchange. Information and communications technology has created a new environment, cyberspace, in which tensions, disagreements and incidents are becoming more frequent. In recent years, the mentioned area has increasingly appeared as a domain of conflict between the leading world and regional powers. The paper gives a brief description of the concept of operations in several domains and elements of the new concept of joint warfare of the US Armed Forces. The importance of cyberspace for the US has been pointed out with a review of organizational changes and the adoption of certain strategic and doctrinal documents. The paper presents certain events and activities in cyberspace, in recent years, between the United States on the one hand, and Iran and North Korea on the other. The United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) was created in 2009. USCYBERCOM was elevated to the status of a full and independent unified command in May 2018. It indicates the importance of cyberspace for the Pentagon. In many ways, the separation of USCYBERCOM from Strategic Commands, which oversees strategic rejection, is a symbol of the change in the US attitude in cyberspace from "defensive" to "persistent engagement." The United States is still the strongest force in cyberspace and shows ambition to carry out cyber operations at all levels of command. It is unlikely that Iran will provoke the United States into a large-scale military conflict and wage a direct war in cyberspace. Iran has rapidly improved its ability to operate in cyberspace, and it is estimated that this trend will continue. The imbalance can prevent Iran from a direct military conflict with the United States and its allies. Greater action is expected with an asymmetric arsenal such as e.g. cyber attacks. Iranian and North Korean operations are similar in target selection, planning and exploitation of attacks. Both countries undertake different variants of phishing attacks in an attempt to deceive their victims into downloading malicious software by presenting it as a legitimate link or file. Whereas Iran usually had a motive only to cause disruption to the functioning of financial institutions, North Korean motive was both financial and political retaliation. Certain discovered incidents indicate that North Korea devotes much more time to conducting invasive surveillance before carrying out attacks. Numerous examples show that some activities have been prepared over the years and with the support of certain state bodies. Regardless of the fact that an investigation has been launched against certain groups, most often sponsored by states, it is unlikely that this will deter countries such as North Korea and Iran from giving up further activities and will pose an increasing threat to the US security.