Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

This paper critically analyses the escalating security challenges facing the European Union, primarily defined by the Russian Federation's military aggression against Ukraine after 2022 and the return of great power tensions. This transformation of the security environment has definitively ended the era of post-conflict peace on the European continent and exposed deep structural vulnerabilities in assuring sovereign European defence. The analysis identifies three key structural challenges: the critical fragmentation of Member States' defence capabilities and capacities, the limited ability to respond to high-intensity conflict, and the industrial unpreparedness of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base. It is asserted that the EU’s persistent reliance on external guarantees, particularly amid rising transatlantic uncertainty, jeopardises its political sovereignty. To overcome these structural limitations, the paper advocates for a deeper integration trajectory towards the concept of a Total Defence Union. It posits that strengthening European defence is a strategic imperative for maintaining Europe's stability and international standing in an era of increasing great power rivalry.

This article addresses the reassessment of security threats to the Czech Republic in light of developments in the security environment since 2015. The aim is to update the evaluation of selected types of threats and to reflect their current characteristics, with particular emphasis on their interdependencies and their capacity to generate cascading effects. To achieve this objective, a semi-quantitative risk assessment model is applied and extended by incorporating a cascading effect coefficient. The results of the risk assessment indicate that cyberattacks, pandemics, floods, and hazardous substance releases constitute unacceptable risks, whereas the remaining assessed threats fall within the category of conditionally acceptable risks. The proposed methodological extension enables a more accurate assessment of interconnected threats. The findings may be applied in risk assessment processes within crisis management.

This paper focuses on identifying risks in selected social facilities in relation to the possible occurrence of an emergency. Risks are dealt with for residential social facilities that provide meals all day long in the territorial scope of the city of České Budějovice. Via the application of the KARS method, selected risks are assessed using their correlations. In this way, the risks are divided into those that primarily threaten the examined social facilities, as well as risks that represent hierarchically-lower risks, or those that were assessed as relatively safe. The research investigated risks in relation to emergencies that occur when social services are provided within the cadastral territory of the České Budějovice. The KARS method was used to identify the risks that are most dangerous for social facilities. In the first stage of the analysis, group risks were ascertained that occur during the operations of individual facilities. The risks were divided into those that primarily threaten the social facilities, and to those which hierarchically represent lesser risks, or were assessed as relatively safe.

The article aims to identify destabilizing factors of economic security and to elaborate recommendations aimed to improve the efficiency of the development of Kazakh enterprises. The authors have used methods of theoretical research, analysis and synthesis, as well as methods of concretization and analogy and an expert survey conducted with their direct participation.Results of the conducted research show that there is a relatively favorable economic environment in industrial production in the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, according to the expert survey, business activity, liquidity and profitability have been falling at many industrial concerns. Among destabilization factors restricting the operation of industrial enterprises, the following dominate: insufficient demand for manufactured products, deficit of own financial resources, tougher market competition and macroeconomic uncertainty. Even though this study mainly covers a range of issues related to Kazakhstan, its conclusions are of interest for the development of an economic strategy at enterprises that operate in other emerging economies.

The world faces new challenges and threats to international security environment, among which a key role play different types of cyberthreats. This follows, primarily the global links in a cyberspace in terms of critical infrastructure of the state’s and intergovernment’s objects in the international security environment and the fact that the cyberaggressor’s tools are becoming cheaper, and their skills are more and more advanced. There is an urgent need for the analysis of present and future cyberthreats in the security environment, to understand their impact on everone, States, Nations and organizations and develop effective methods of response in this highly complex reality. The article presents the concept of defining of main types of cyberhreats (i.e. information warfare, cyberterrorism, cybercrime and cyberespionage) on the base of the new theoretical approach of modern security environment model.