National Defensive and Defense Strategies. Selected Planning Problems

Abstract

The overall objective of undertaken research is to present national reflection on defense in Poland, in particular an image of the defense planning culture. The article focuses on issues of defense strategy planning as a part of the complete state defensive strategy and indicates the necessary directions for changes in the essence of defense planning in the light of changes in the security and defense environment of Poland in the 21st century. In the study use has been made of an analysis and a critical review of normative documents, strategies and doctrines. The collected data allow the indication of changes of an application nature (projection method) to the theory of strategic planning in the field of national defense. This allowed proving that the future desired position of Poland in regional and even continental Europe depends on the anticipated direction of development of Polish defense potential, defense system, and of course, a clearly expressed strategy. The most important element of the three listed ones is naturally the strategy, the preparation of which requires regular cycles of strategic reviews, which are unfortunately not feasible in Poland. The article also emphasizes the importance of assuring the stability of the planning system, the basic element of which are experts, and whose regular fluctuation as a result of constant political changes causes a considerable destabilization of the planning system. Finally, attention is drawn to the fact that the defense strategy must take into account the complexity and unpredictability of the security environment – which are its basic features today.