The Concept of Total Defense Options of the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

With the current National Security Strategy, the Republic of Serbia has adopted the total defense concept to respond to the proclaimed military neutrality. The decision in question, among other things, affects the direction of the overall defense capability of the state and society as a whole. There are several fundamentally important issues in which a choice must be made. One of the essential questions is which tasks are best performed under the auspices of the Armed Forces and which should be assigned to civilian actors. In other words, a clear division of responsibilities between the civilian and Armed Forces involved in total defense is necessary. On the other hand, the Republic of Serbia has a negative legacy that dates back to the conflict on the territory of the former state, as well as certain decisions that contradict the decision to develop a total defense and confident decisions that have a direct impact on the adopted concept of national defense. The paper presents the possible content of the total defense of the Republic of Serbia through the analysis of the concept on the examples of individual countries. In this connection, it should be noted that the Defense Strategy of the Republic of Serbia had to expand the content of the total defense concept. This is necessary not only for a more complete understanding but also for the fact that the provisions of the Strategy are further operationalized through documents of lower generality.