Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation

The study deals with the role of volunteering and reserve forces in the security and defence systems of selected European states in the context of a changing security environment. It focuses on the institutional and personnel anchoring of voluntary military service, active reserves and other forms of involvement of the wider public in the defence of the state, both in the field of armed forces and in the broader framework of internal security and crisis management. It seems increasingly clear that volunteer and reserve models are becoming a key tool for strengthening defence capacities, increasing the resilience of the state and deepening civil-military cooperation, especially in conditions of limited personnel resources of professional armies. The text also points out the differences between the individual states under review (Belgium, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) in terms of the degree of integration of volunteers, the scope of their tasks, the intensity of training and their relationship to compulsory military service. Attention is also paid to a certain extent to informal or insufficiently regulated security activities, including the potential for their politicisation or misuse by extremist actors. The study aims to contribute to the expert debate on the possibilities of effectively involving volunteer potential in complex national defence systems. The paper advances the argument that volunteering is no longer a peripheral addition to defence systems, but constitutes a structural pillar of modern defence architectures, particularly in states relying on professional armed forces and whole-of-society approaches.

The current geopolitical changes and the dedication to regional safety have drawn researchers’ attention towards discussion on the multiple aspects of new residents’ integration. Ensuring that new members of society are welcomed has been of significant scientific and political interest in sustaining coherent and resilient communities. This discussion also extends to the well-being of soldiers and their families when relocating due to deployment. Since deployment locations vary, the state of scientific knowledge highlights the need to investigate the integration of soldiers and military-related families within the specific contexts of individual states. Accordingly, this study examines the case of Lithuania, with a focus on the socio-legal factors influencing the integration of military-related families. The research is based on a thematic analysis of international scientific literature, identifying the main challenges faced by families residing in foreign countries. It also outlines the conditions necessary for the successful integration of military-related families in the Lithuanian context. The findings indicate that: a) in addition to traditional integration programs, special attention must be given to the specific characteristics of military life; b) integration of military-related residents should adopt a family-centred approach that considers the past, present, and future experiences, needs, and aspirations of family members; and c) successful integration requires strong intersectoral cooperation. The practical implications highlight the need for practitioners to pay particular attention to monitoring and managing both the sequence and quality of the integration of foreign soldiers’ families during their residence in the host country.

Amid renewed interest in total defense frameworks within European strategic communities, this article explores the intersection of civilianled resistance to external armed aggression and the broader concept of national resilience in contemporary warfare. Through a comparison of two case studies–the grassroots resistance of Ukrainian civilians to Russian aggression since February 24, 2022, and the mobilization of Israeli civilians in response to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023–this article assesses the strategic and operational relevance of civilian resistance within total and comprehensive defense models.

A multidimensional analysis of one of main macroeconomic indicators, specifically, unemployment, in the United States was conducted and presented in the article. The research covered several groups of dependent variables, such as: the number of unemployed people in total in the United States monthly, along with unemployment rates, CPI indices, and unemployment in respective US states. The evaluation of the conducted research is that from January 2020 to October 2023 there had been a visible decrease in unemployment rates, and their level is similar to the values recorded from January 2018 to January 2020, which clearly proves that the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been averted. The analysis method was used in the study, i.e. distribution of variables into prime factors and comparison dynamically in order to detect the regularities occurring in them.

Each country has to be able to develop efficient economic policy, facilitating sustainable economic development of national economy. In order to devise such policy, development patterns of a country has to be known, external threats indicated and various scenarios of their impact has to be foreseen, their impact forecasted and discussed. Alas, in contemporary environment in conditions of globalization predicting of development peculiarities and external factors’ impact becomes especially urgent issue. Presented paper is devoted to discussion about predicted development selected national economies with account of threats caused by global environment. Economic indicators of Lithuania and Germany forested for period of three years, estimated, are being analyzed. The following methodology is applied. At first main macroeconomic indicators, such as real GDP growth, inflation, interest rates and unemployment ceteris paribus forecasted until year 2022 will be compared. The second, external threats will be selected and considered. Forecasted impact of indicated threats on real GDP growth of Lithuania and Germany will be discussed; source of employed data: database Passport, provided by Euromonitor International Company and powered by Clarivate Analytics (data are provided for research purposes for subscribed users). Change of real GDP growth in Lithuania and Germany under indicated threats pressure after one year period and three years period is juxtaposed. The findings suggest insights about development patterns of small comparatively less developed open economy and big well developed country belonging to the same economic union. Findings are instrumental for devising national economic policies enhancing resilience of national economies to external (global) threats.