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2. The Role of Civilians in Security and Defence Policy Making - The Case of the Czech Republic
- Author:
- Marie Vlachová
- Publication Date:
- 08-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Formal and institutional framework of democratic control of armed forces has been installed in the Czech Republic – roles, responsibilities and powers of security sector institutions/actors are determined by law.
- Topic:
- Security, Civil Society, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Czech Republic
3. The Integration of Women into the Czech Armed Forces
- Author:
- Marie Vlachová
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- In the mid-1980s, only three per cent of Czechoslovak women served in the professional corps. By the turn of the millennium, their number had increased to ten per cent. The process of a slow, but steady integration of women into the Czechoslovak/Czech armed forces, its present state and future perspectives are described in this study.
- Topic:
- Security, Gender Issues, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe
4. The Professionalisation of the Czech Armed Forces
- Author:
- Marie Vlachová
- Publication Date:
- 05-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- Throughout modern history, the fate of the Czech nation has always been determined by politicians and not the armed forces. Czech soldiers have seldom fought for "their cause", i.e. one with which they are able to identify fully. The existence of Czechoslovakia's pre-war army, which was supposed to guarantee national sovereignty, was too short-lived, ending unimpressively when the political representation decided to demobilize prior to the country's occupation by the Nazis. The First Republic tradition was not sufficient to overcome widespread anti-military sentiments, which were personified by the infamous Czech literary character known as "Soldier Shweik" - whose origins lie in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the Communist era, most people were unable to identify with a fight against imperialism, that was designed by the Communist regime as the main reason for compulsory service in the military. The fact that the army stayed away from the public resistance to the 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact forces, only exacerbated the common perception that the military was no more than an obedient instrument of the Soviet Union's power politics. Even after the collapse of communism, doubts about the necessity to have an army persisted within Czech society. After November 1989, the armed forces drifted from the public.s and politician.s centre of attention for a short time. However, once it became apparent that the army would not intervene in the political transformation process; both the population and the new political representation shifted their focus towards political, economic, and also social issues.
- Topic:
- Security, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Czech Republic
5. Management of National Security Sector - Bulgarian Experience
- Author:
- Anyu Angelov
- Publication Date:
- 03-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The notion of national security could be perceived in a narrow meaning or in an exceptionally broad meaning. Using this term in broader sense creates opportunities of binding mutually the functions and the responsibilities of almost all state institutions, local administration and municipalities in almost all spheres of public life. But such a perception hides a danger of dilution and chaotic shift of responsibilities between agencies for some of their paramount activities. And sometimes the broader sense could mislead even governments in their decision-making process. Let me give you a brand new Bulgarian example. Recently the Supreme Administrative Court stopped temporarily one of the biggest privatisation deals- those on Bulgarian tobacco holding known as "Bulgartabac". Striving for acceleration of the privatisation process and finding no other opportunity to overrule the court's decision about a concrete buyer, the government passed a bill, in which only the parliament is authorised to make decisions on the privatisation of fifteen of the biggest state companies, among them Bulgarian Tоbacco Holding, Bulgarian Railways, Bulgarian Airlines. Those decisions cannot be protested by the prosecution and overruled by the court. The only motivation of such exclusive procedure was the "exceptional importance of these companies for the national security". The bill was adopted by the National Assembly with shake majority, but was vetoed by the President.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Bulgaria
6. Former Soviet Union: Security Sector Reform in the Southern Caucasus
- Author:
- Philipp Fluri
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF)
- Abstract:
- The countries of the Southern Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) experienced seventy years of one-party centralized management of the security sector – a heritage they share with all other former Soviet Republics (though precise time spans vary). Independent state-building can be expected to be slow, and it has further been vexed by armed conflicts which are far from being permanently settled and which have led to considerable numbers of IDPs and refugees in Georgia and Azerbaijan. This specific situation has naturally slowed the build-up of security sectors much different from the local post-Soviet replica of the once union-wide complex of security services.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and Government
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia