EDITORIAL

Abstract

We have prepared a new issue of Contemporary Military Challenges. I am well aware that there are many topical texts and media information that catch the eye of Slovenian public more than military and defence-related subjects. This is complete- ly understandable, since we feel safe in our country, while the security situation in other parts of the world is significantly different. In those remote unstable regions, the Slovenian Armed Forces comes into play as one of NATO, EU or UN members contributing to international peace and stability. The Slovenian Armed Forces work in the service of their country. We remain fai- thfully on our track, performing our duties and fulfilling the military mission to the best of our abilities. Some of our colleagues wrote in the Doctrine of the Slovenian Armed Forces that the values of the Slovenian Armed Forces are a driving force of mission implementation. They result from general civilization values, values of Slovenian society and the nature of military operations. We often like boast about the results of the Slovenian public opinion research regarding the trust of citizens in Slovenian institutions, according to which the Slovenian Armed Forces have ranked among the highest since 2005. Moreover, since 2010, the Slovenian Armed Forces has been on top. Indeed, such an outcome can be attributed to the fact that the rate of trust in other institutions has declined. Nevertheless, it is important that the proportion of those who trust the Slovenian Armed Forces has over the past two years remained constant or even increased. I am aware that the results of the Public Opinion and Mass Communication Research Centre at the Faculty of Social Sciences are only one of the mirrors showing our quality, but this is enough to remain optimistic regarding our future work. Values are therefore an important part of the functioning of the Slovenian Armed Forces work, the state and the society. Throughout the history, they have often been put to the test and it seems so today as well. Jasna Fedran wrote an article Basic ethical terms – an attempt to make a review of (un)ethical conduct where she introduces the values that challenged discussions with Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and many others in the past and today. Her text will reveal more about the findings. A lot has been written about contemporary security challenges and changes that remain a constant and incite new security threats. In his article, Analysis of NATO 2010 strategic concept, Aljaž Fabjan describes how the Alliance defined it responses to threats around the world and what are its priorities. The article Participation of Slovenian Armed Forces in international operations and missions in light of the foreign policy of the Republic of Slovenia by Branko Podbrežnik highlights international, political and legal frameworks that affect and define the functioning of the Slovenian Armed Forces in the turbulent international environment. Srečko Zajc in his article The role of civilian experts in international operations and missions – Slovenian lessons learned in PRT – ISAF, Afghanistan shared with us his experience from the operation of Slovenian civil military experts in that part of the world. Cross-border education and risk to national security is a topic which inspired the writing of Valentina Jošt Lešer, who among other things discusses what brain drain means for national security. Impact of human resource management on the enhancement of security culture in corporate security environment was discussed by Karmen and Denis Čaleta. Security culture is therefore a value in organizations that are strongly linked and dependent on the leadership and management. Bojan Zevnik has shared some of his experiences and suggestions, which he considers to be able to contribute to the improving of the quality of action. They are presented in the article Professional superiority in the management of communicati- on and information systems in the Slovenian Armed Forces. Despite the high intensity of daily events at work and privately, we kindly invite all who are interested in defense and military contents to write, especially in our future issues. In 2013, we celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of Contemporary Military Challenges (formerly Bulletin of the Slovenian Armed Forces).