Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation

Understanding how soil systems respond to atmospheric forcing is critical not only for environmental science but also for defence operations requiring accurate terrain assessment. This study quantifies depth‑dependent and delayed soil responses to meteorological drivers using lag‑correlation analysis across six operational military monitoring stations (2022–2024). The results demonstrate that soil–atmosphere coupling exhibits strong station‑specific variability, with response times ranging from hours to several weeks depending on soil type and depth.

The paper examines the economic determinants of military modernisation within the Central Northern European Military Mobility Area (CNE MMA) from 2010 to 2024. Using correlation analysis and linear models for panel data, the paper investigates the relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and expenditures on military equipment and infrastructure across eight member states. Furthermore, the article defines the roles of individual states within the military mobility capability across European territory. A significant contribution of this work, which distinguishes it from existing literature in the field, is the assessment of the specific relationship between economic growth and defence infrastructure investments. While most research focuses on aggregate military spending, this study isolates infrastructure investment as a critical enabler of strategic mobility. The findings reveal a significant infrastructure decoupling in major powers like Germany and Poland, where equipment procurement crowds out infrastructure investment despite rising budgets. Conversely, frontline state like Lithuania demonstrates synchronized spending. The study concludes that current prioritisation of equipment over infrastructure creates strategic risks for rapid force deployment. The primary contribution lies in the disaggregated analysis of dual-use infrastructure within the CNE MMA framework, providing actionable insights for balancing fiscal allocation to ensure logistical resilience in contemporary geopolitical conditions.

The changing security environment in Eastern Europe has increased the strategic importance of road infrastructure for national resilience, civilian protection, and allied military mobility. Lithuania occupies a critical position on NATO's north eastern flank, where a limited number of strategic road corridors simultaneously support domestic mobility, freight transport, civilian evacuation, and allied reinforcement. This study assesses the resilience of Lithuania's national road network under four military threat scenarios: blockade of the Suwałki Corridor and attacks from Kaliningrad Oblast, Belarusian territory, and the Latvian direction. The methodological framework combines structured evidence synthesis from public transport and infrastructure data, strategic and policy documents, and scientific literature with spatial road network assessment, scenario analysis, and multicriteria vulnerability scoring. The Scenario Severity Index identified the Belarusian scenario as the most severe, scoring 24 of 25 points and reaching 96 percent. The Suwałki Corridor and Kaliningrad scenarios each reached 80 percent, while the Latvian direction scenario reached 64 percent. The analysis identified A1, A5, the Vilnius to Kaunas axis, the Kaunas transport node, and strategic connections with Poland and Latvia as the most critical network elements. The findings show that simultaneous civilian evacuation and military movements may constrain road functionality even without direct infrastructure loss. Nationally coordinated corridor based resilience management and unified civil military traffic coordination are therefore required. The results also provide a structured vulnerability evidence base for the future development of the National Transport Mobilization Index.

The increasing weight and technological complexity of modern main battle tanks (MBTs), particularly the Leopard 2 series, impose substantial demands on military transport systems and supporting infrastructure. This study evaluates the logistical and infrastructural constraints associated with the transport of heavy armoured vehicles within the Czech Armed Forces (CAF) in the context of NATO military mobility requirements. The analysis focuses on both road and rail transport systems, with emphasis on technical compatibility, regulatory compliance, and operational feasibility. The methodological approach combines comparative analysis of vehicle and transport system parameters, empirical axle load measurements, and assessment of compliance with national legislation and NATO transport standards. The study further integrates infrastructure-oriented evaluation to capture systemic constraints affecting mobility performance. The results indicate that road transport operations frequently exceed permissible axle load limits defined by national legislation, while rail transport is constrained by insufficient wagon load capacity and limitations in vehicle securing systems. These constraints collectively reduce the operational flexibility of heavy armoured vehicle deployment. The findings demonstrate that current transport capabilities within the CAF are only partially sufficient for the deployment of Leopard 2 MBT without operational restrictions or reliance on external logistical support. These limitations negatively affect strategic mobility and rapid deployment capability, particularly within multinational operational frameworks. The study therefore highlights the need for continued modernisation of transport assets, adaptation of transport infrastructure, and closer alignment with NATO standardisation and European military mobility initiatives.

The connection between illegal migration and terrorism is in the focal point of security dilemmas since the beginning of the flow of migration and since the terrorist attacks in Paris in particular. The basic question is whether the terrorist organizations are able and will embed terrorists among the migrants. The essay makes a comparison between the American and European handling of refugees emphasizing the effectiveness of the American refugee’s processes. The author refers the challenges of the security services facing the Islamic State.