VARNOST KOT IMPERATIV

Abstract

In 2017, the publication Contemporary Military Challenges entered its nineteenth year of existence, which reminds us of an important anniversary coming up in 2018. The first issue was published in September 1999 under the name of Bulletin of the Slovenian Armed Forces. From then until the end of last year, 18 volumes of the publication included 438 articles by 564 authors. There were 289 authors from the Slovenian Armed Forces and 48 authors from the administrative part of the Ministry of Defence; 161 authors were from different institutions and 66 authors from abroad. This year, we will focus on topical issues, which will, hopefully, be of interest to our readers and will motivate you to open discussions, reflect upon and perhaps even write about your views on the emergence of new security as an imperative for the future. This year's second issue titled Veteran organizations – are they even needed will be released in English. Since this topic has never before been discussed in our publication, it is perhaps time that we speak about it and share experiences of different countries. This year’s third issue titled Migrations and security on the Old Continent will also be published in English. It will be dedicated to the unstable Middle East, terrorism in Europe and national experiences with migration. Special focus will be put on the migration flows from autumn 2015 to spring 2016 as well as to the Europe's response to them. The title of the fourth issue will be Security forces of the future. It will focus on the way forward in ensuring safety. Some of the topical issues will certainly include the new old ways of manning the armed forces, achieving capability targets and international operations and missions. This year also marks 20 years since members of the Slovenian Armed Forces have joined an international operation for the first time. It was Operation Alba in Albania. Since then, they have participated in numerous operations and missions throughout the world. The 2017 will undoubtedly also be marked by the findings of the 2016 Strategic Defence Review, and the tasks arising from it. The chapter referring to the strengthening of the defence capability and resilience defines the primary objective of further development of the defence system and defence capacity of the Republic of Slovenia, which arises from the findings of the strategic review. The authors of the document classified them as follows: provision of the country’s defence capabilities, enhancing the resilience of the state and society to security threats, improving the preparedness and sustainability of the Slovenian Armed Forces, and achieving of common goals and commitments in the framework of the EU and NATO. It is our firm belief that the articles in this issue of the Contemporary Military Challenges titled Security as an imperative can contribute to the goals set out in the Strategic Defence Review. Defence planning – vital policy instrument in supporting a nation's defence needs is the title of the article written by Pavel Vuk. In the final part of the article, the author writes that the main question of the politics when discussing future defence needs of a county from the perspective of limited economic ability should always focus on defence planning. It should primarily attempt to find the answer to the fundamental question of whether the proposed plan will offer adequate answers to the future national defence needs.