Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation

The protection of cultural heritage is an important element of a country’s cultural policy. The article describes the nature of threats posed by armed conflicts to cultural heritage and the destruction of Ukrainian cultural property by Russian aggression in 2022. The article aims at discussion of the consequences of Russia’s deliberate destruction of Ukrainian cultural heritage and offers an interdisciplinary insight into protection of cultural heritage during the contemporary armed conflict. These initial observations from Russian aggression against Ukraine serve as a starting point for a discussion on challenges related to the protection of cultural heritage during a potential armed conflict in Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on practical observations from Ukraine, the article calls for improvements to the protection of cultural heritage in Poland.

The article presents an in-depth identification of the polemological aspects of research on the subject of wars and armed conflicts of the 21st century. Moreover, it discusses the evolution, scale and nature of contemporary, as well as future wars and armed conflicts. The article refers to the essence, properties and characteristics of ‘new wars’ and the possibility of studying them by using appropriate instruments. Based on the conducted research, an attempt is made at forecasting wars and armed conflicts of the future. The article also highlights the activities and functioning of contemporary research institutes and facilities engaged in the analysis of war and armed conflicts, and focuses on the legitimacy and needs of implementing the polemological approach to the research of the presented subject in the present global-informational security conditions.

The article presents the current patterns in education of Prison Service officers on the example of one of the largest penitentiary units in Poland, i.e. the Penitentiary Facility in Włocławek. The tendencies and changes in provision by qualified staff in penitentiary system as a prerequisite of societal safety were defined due to analysis of data about education of officers of the Prison Service and penitentiary department in the years 1999–2019. In order to investigate the role of rehabilitation staff in the penitentiary system, it is important to assess the current distribution and structural changes in penitentiary staff which, in turn, can be crucial for achieving the objectives of the execution of the imprisonment penalty. To achieve and maintain societal safety, particularly security in penitentiary system it is important to consider changes in the capacity of the prisons. In this regard main positive trends are: increase of number and share of staff with special tertiary education affects the quality of the social rehabilitation work at the penitentiary facility; gender distribution of Prison Service staff tends to reflect distribution on prisoners; professional qualification of officers grows steadily. The main challenge for current penitentiary system in order to increase its educational impact on prisoners is hiring process which should be directed on attracting graduates of rehabilitation pedagogy and penitentiary pedagogy to work in the penitentiary department.

The article examins the concept of the defense-industrial complex as the basis of the national security of the state, peculiarities of its structure and functioning in different countries of the world, as well as issues related the current state and reforms in Ukraine. In particular, the essence of the concept of defense-industrial complex is determined by researching the scientific points of view of both foreign and Ukrainian scientists. Peculiarities of the structure and functioning of the defense-industrial complex in countries like the USA, France, Italy, Great Britain, Sweden, China, India and Germany were studied. It was shown which state organs in Ukraine are responsible for production and supply (sales) of weapons and military equipment. The legal status of the State Concern “Ukroboronprom” as an important component of the defense-industrial complex of Ukraine has been determined. Special attention is paid to the peculiarities of the strategy of development of the defense-industrial complex of Ukraine for the period till 2028, its main purpose and priority directions are highlighted. Key strategic goals and key strategic initiatives in the State Concern “Ukroboronprom” reform strategy are highlighted, with the aim of achieving close international cooperation in the framework of innovative tendencies and improvement of the legal framework by bringing the legislation norms to the world standards. Problematic issues in the defense industry of Ukraine that need to be addressed in order to improve the efficiency and consistency of this sector of economy were identified.

This paper is an attempt to review the European debate between proponents of the voluntary and the obligatory case for CSR in the middle of the economic crisis that we are living. Starting by the analysis of the current European government-led initiatives to foster CSR among companies we move to the analysis of two specific national government-led initiatives in the EU area, Spain and Poland. Finally, the paper focuses on the comparison of both cases, as an example of the disparities between national policies in Europe. The lack of a regulatory European framework for CSR could explain the misbalance between country initiatives.