Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation

The aggression on Ukraine in 2022 was preceded by hybrid attacks targeting many European countries, including Poland. An important element of the hybrid attack are disinformation and propaganda activities. The aim of the article is to interpret the results of research on the vulnerability of Poles to disinformation depending on how far we are from the place where the inflammatory events take place. The study concerned disinformation about illegal migration to Poland from Belarus in 2021. The surveyed were residents of areas neigh boring with Belarus and in other statistically selected regions of Poland.

The study attempts to present the impact of Russian policy on Saudi Arabia in terms of economic security. Analyses of primary data on the quantitative states of the possessed oil and gas resources and their annual consumption, as well as the state of essential armaments of Russia and Saudi Arabia were carried out and evaluated. As a result of the analysis of the literature of the research, it was observed that the potential of Russian-Saudi military cooperation is unrealized. One of the goals of Russian policy is to seek to limit the influence of both Saudi Arabia and the United States in the Middle East region. This limitation allows Saudi Arabia itself to not dictate world oil prices. The United States, on the other hand, due to its huge demand for oil, is forced to pursue such a policy in order to be guaranteed an adequate price and continuity of supply to meet its oil needs now and in the future.

The aim of the article is to present Chechen terrorism as a consequence of violations of basic human rights, including the crimes of genocide committed by the Russian Federation in the First Russo-Chechen War in 1994-1996. It has been argued that terrorism has become a dramatic way of drawing the international community’s attention to the tragedy taking place in Chechnya. Over time, Chechen fighters were influenced by radical Muslim groups and used terrorist fighting methods. On the other hand, the Russians did not shy away from bombing entire villages they suspected of sheltering wanted fighters. All this led to an escalation of terrorism and radicalization of religious views among a large part of the society. Moreover, the lack of a decisive reaction from the West to the policy of exterminating the Chechen population by the Russian Federation has led to an increase in anti-Western sentiment, which had not been recorded in Chechnya before.

Current study aims to analyse the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and related economic and political sanctions in the framework of game theory, debate the possible outcomes and to suggest the measures, which could contribute to the successful solution of the conflict. “The chicken dilemma” and “the dollar auction game” have been selected among various models for deeper analyse as matching the starting criteria and possible rational options for conflict endgame. The criteria of success and predicted success scenarios are seen different, but as the authors see it, in theory both Russia and the EU could be motivated to “pull back”. However, their willingness not to “lose the game” is determined in real terms by the “breaking points” that both parties to the conflict would like to avoid.

The paper presents research which investigates the implications of national culture and organizational culture in the Lithuanian and Russian SMEs. While much of the attention has been given to organizational culture in large companies, little research has been focused on organizational and national culture in SMEs. The research is based on the main ideas of Hofstede’s framework of seven cultural dimensions and Denison’s cultural model, which measures culture in organizations with four major traits, such as involvement, consistency, adaptability, and mission. The quantitative research is based on responses to a questionnaire embracing various aspects of national and organizational culture. The authors of the research have elaborated proposals for further research.