Journal articles on the topic 'Europe, Western – Armed Forces – Women'

The recruitment and retention of well-qualified military personnel are essential for any armed forces. This is even more true because most armed forces in Europe have shifted from a conscript-based to an all-volunteer format. Based on presentations and discussions during the 14th ERGOMAS Conference in Athens, Greece, June 26-30, 2017, this special publication of Contemporary Military Challenges focuses on the challenges of recruiting and retaining interested young people in the armed forces. In the ERGOMAS Working Group “Recruitment and Retention”, chaired by Tibor Szvircsev Tresch, 20 papers from different researchers were presented. In the five conference sessions on this issue, we had interesting discussions on various related topics. Session 1 dealt with the subject of minorities in the armed forces, and especially how they can be integrated and how they can participate in the system. In the next session, recruitment and retention in the reserve forces stood as the theme of the presentations. Politics and the military: mutual influence and the effect on military personnel was the topic of session 3, and session 4 analysed the motivational factors and reasons for attrition. The last session focused attention on recruitment and retention strategies. From these five sessions we were able to choose five presentations from all of these topics to adapt as journal articles. In the five articles offered in this journal, recruitment and retention are broadly discussed in historical terms and also based on the most recent research results. In military sociology research has generally addressed the recruitment of volunteers into the active force, but the reserve components and the conscription system should also be reviewed in detail. This special issue also analyzes reserve forces and conscription systems with regard to recruitment and retention. In the past not much attention has been paid to the topic of recruitment and retention in Europe. This was also true during the time of the Cold War for the conscript-based armed forces; the recruitment of new personnel was guaranteed by the conscript system. The advantages of this system were that the conscripted young men (in Europe only men were obliged to enter the armed forces; for women this was on a volunteer basis, and in some countries it was even forbidden for women to join the armed forces, or they could join only in auxiliary positions) could be socialized during their military service and also convinced that a professional military position could be a career for them. In other words, through the conscript system the armed forces were able to win new personnel who could imagine staying in the armed forces as long-term employees. One consequence of this was that the armed forces did not have to recruit new personnel on the free job market. The ‘in-house’ recruiting system provided by conscription was in most cases sufficient to catch enough personnel and – very importantly – well-qualified staff. But with the end of the Cold War and new missions, armed forces had to cover new tasks. These new tasks also required, on the one hand, personnel who were able and willing to stay abroad for a longer time, and on the other hand, new skills to cope with the new circumstances in the missions abroad. With the conflicts in the 1990s such as the Gulf War, the Somali Civil War with the United Missions UNOSMO I and II, the Bosnian War and the Kosovo War with the involvement of NATO, Western European armed forces had huge problems sending qualified personnel to these crises. Paradoxically the European armed forces were at that time much bigger in the number of soldiers than they are today, but in almost every country it was forbidden to send conscripted soldiers on missions abroad. Therefore the situation was that after the end of the Cold War these armed forces were not fit for the new tasks. Through the experience gained within these missions, a process of multi-nationalization and professionalization took place in the European armed forces. Multi-nationalization meant that it was more important for many states to join alliances, especially NATO. In a multi-national framework the aspect of greater interoperability between different armed forces was given heed. This led to more professional structures. This structural change is strongly reflected in the number of armed forces that have suspended conscription. In 1990, just four out of 26 European countries had an all-volunteer force, i.e. no conscription system. Today, most European states have switched to an all-volunteer format for their armed forces. This situation has altered the manning system. The flow of newly conscripted recruits disappeared, and personnel had to be found on the free market. At the same time as the armed forces were changing from conscript-based mass armies to leaner all-volunteer forces, civil society was engaged in a process of changing values. Traditional values such as obedience, discipline, and subordination became less significant for young people, and values such as autonomy and self-determination were esteemed much more. Some reasons for this were urbanization, an increasing level of education, and greater differentiation and specialization in the working environment. This led to a discrepancy between civil values that focus on the individual, and military values, which refer to the group dimension. At the moment the consequences of this process can be seen in the difficulty recruiting military personnel in sufficient quantity and quality. Questions related to human resources have become existential for armed forces; not only filling positions in the armed forces, but also adapting them to the new missions in a multicultural environment requires the urgent efforts of human resources development. Attention is now directed towards widening the recruitment pool. Women and young people with a migrant background should complement the traditional recruitment profile of a young, white male. Or in other words, the new recruiting targets must be on an equal footing with the old traditional recruitment basis. With that in mind the European armed forces must alter their recruitment outlook so that they will be attractive to these new target groups. The papers and research presented in this journal may help to broaden the understanding of this new recruitment and retention process. Have a good read!

Ever since it won its independence, Slovenia has made great efforts to distance itself geographically and politically from the region, nowadays also known as the Western Balkans. In the past twenty years, most of Slovenia’s efforts have been directed towards becoming a European Union and NATO member. The Slovenian Armed Forces followed the lead by gathering its experiences and knowledge mostly in the Western Europe and the USA as well as in different military missions and operations led by the UN, NATO, the EU and the OSCE. When the situation in the former Yugoslavia settled and at least fragile peace was restored, newly formed countries decided to join the PfP programme and later on NATO (Croatia is already a member, while Serbia does not wish to become one, yet) and the EU. In such circumstances, Slovenia and the Slovenian Armed Forces saw a new opportunity to support these countries in their Euro-Atlantic ambitions and help them with security sector reforms.

Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union sought to reestablish its control over the areas of Eastern Europe that it had occupied prior to the RussoGerman war. These areas included Western Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Baltic States of Lithuanian, Latvia, and Estonia.2 In these regions, the Soviets found wellorganized underground resistance movements that were determined to hold off the complete Sovietization of their homelands, a task the Soviets had initially begun in 1940 and 1941, but which had been interrupted by war. While complete victory over the Soviets was recognized as an unreachable goal, these resistance fighters fought on in the hope that either the Soviets would grow weary of waging war or, as the above statement by Juozas Luksa suggests, the Western powers would return to finish the job of liberating Europe. Therefore, the period of 1944 to 1953 in this region is marked by an intense conflict between Eastern European guerrillas and Soviet counterinsurgency forces.

In the summer of 2021, a flood of unprecedented intensity occurred in Western Europe. This article describes the German crisis response mechanism to natural disasters with a focus on the deployment and tasks of the German Armed Forces and analyzes challenges and controversies connected with the internal use of the military in Germany after the flood.

After the end of World War II leaders of the West European countries had realised the necessity to create new security frameworks, thus making the security of the continent the concern of the Europeans themselves. However, immediately after it had been formed the North Atlantic Alliance, as a trans-Atlantic defence shield against the danger from the "communist East", became the central security component in Europe. Just after the end of the Cold War and disappearance of the "danger from the East" the European leaders initiated the process of creation of the new European defence system. The system would be designed in such a way not to jeopardise the position of the NATO, improving at the same time the security and stability in the continent. In the first part of the article the author considers the course of European integration in the second half of the last century that proceeded through creation of institutions preceding the establishment of the European Union. During the period of creation of this specific form of action performed by the European states at the internal and international levels, the deficiency of integration in the military field was notable. In that regard, the author stresses the role of the Western European Union as an alliance for collective defence of West European countries. The second part of the paper discusses the shaping of the EU security component through the provisions on the Common Foreign and Security Policy, which are included in the EU agreements. The Maastricht Treaty defined the Common Foreign and Security Policy as an instrument to reach agreement by member states in the defence field. The Amsterdam Treaty confirmed the role of this mechanism expanding the authorities resulting from it. The Treaty of Nice supplements the existing mechanism by a new military and political structure that should help implement the decisions made by the European Union institutions in the military field. In the third part of the article, the author presents the facts concerning the establishment and internal organisation of the Eurocorps. The creation of this military formation took place in early 1990s and was initiated by the two states of "the old Europe" - Germany and France. The authors also emphasises that the establishment of this formation is the first step towards creation of the armed forces in Europe. The fourth part of the paper treats the Rapid Reaction Force that was established by the Helsinki Agreement (1999). It became operative in early 2003 and its basic aim is to prevent the outbreak of crises in the region and to improve stability in Europe. In spite of the opinions that the establishment of such a force is the skeleton for creation of the European armed forces, the author thinks that, at least in the near future, they will not be a rival to the NATO. In his opinion, their possible military missions will be carried out only when the alliance takes no interest in being engaged in them.

After regaining independence in 1991, Estonia had to define its policy toward neighbours and set out a clear path regarding security issues. It is the smallest country in Europe that shares a border with Russia – a nation with which Estonia shares a common history with a negative outcome, and contemporary relations leave much to be desired. It is a country aware of its limited capabilities, which does not mean that it is passively waiting for the situation to develop. Through its policy, it is constantly striving to shape the security environment, both within its borders and in the Baltic Sea region. Estonia’s accession to the European Union and NATO has permanently tied it to Western Europe. It is one of few countries that take a holistic approach to security that engages the entire society and, simultaneously, a place where citizens understand their role and the fact that independence is not given once and for all.

Spreminjanje vloge vojsk v evropskih državah pod vplivom dogajanj po hladni vojni postavlja številna vprašanja tako na teoretični kot na praktični ravni. Na spremembo vloge vojsk pomembno vplivajo predvsem ozemeljska (pre)razporeditev konfrontacij in konfliktov, spreminjanje podobe oboroženih konfliktov ter povečanje pripravljenosti zahodnih držav za vojaško posredovanje v soseščini. Prispevek obravnava teoretična razmišljanja o vlogi vojsk v evropskih državah, prikaže pa tudi nekatere analitične poglede na vlogo vojsk v okviru Nata in EU. Najbolj pomembna sprememba glede vloge vojsk je zmanjševanje potrebe po obrambi ozemlja ter pojav precej različnih in pogosto nejasno definiranih nalog. Tem spremembam pa morajo države prilagoditi tudi obrambne doktrine ter strukturo vojsk. Postopno slovo od ozemeljske obrambne vloge vojske za oblikovalce obrambne politike odpira vrsto vprašanj tako glede odnosa med vojsko in njenim družbenim okoljem kot tudi glede njene notranje organiziranosti. The changing roles of armed forces in European countries, which are influenced by the post- Cold War developments, have opened many questions both, on the theoretical and practical level. The role of the armed forces is influenced mostly by: the territorial (re)location of confrontations and conflicts, the changing feature of armed conflicts and increased willingness of Western states to intervene in their neighbourhood. The article discusses theoretical considerations on the role of armed forces in European countries and presents also some analytical views on the role of armed forces military roles in the framework of NATO and EU. The most important change concerning the role of armed forces is a diminishing need for territorial defence and the emergence of different and frequently vaguely defined tasks of European states’ armed forces. These changes require also the adaptation of defence doctrines and military structure. A gradual farewell to the territorial defence function of the armed forces raises numerous questions for defence policy-makers, which concern the relations between the armed forces and their social environment as well as the military internal organisational structure.

The article contains the results of research on the development of foreign and Russian history. The work is based on materials of monographs and scientific articles in Russian. The main task of its analysis is to reveal what intellectual processes influenced historians. The sphere of scientific interests of the given scientists includes the history of the state, the fiscal-military state and the processes of formation of modern armed forces in Western Europe and Russia in the XV-XIX centuries.

Ukraine, as a democratic and independent state, chose its own path of development, sought to enter the global system of security and development, and unreasonably experienced Russian armed aggression. As a result of the war, the economy in the east and south of Ukraine has been destroyed, business is being moved and/or reduced, people are killed and forced to migrate. The consequences of this are a significant reduction in budget revenues, along with a significant increase in economic spending, especially defense spending. This prompted the Ukrainian government to seek international military and political assistance. The unity of the Ukrainian people and the defense and security forces of Ukraine became an irresistible force supported by Western partner countries. The driving force behind the transformation of Ukraine into the strongest state in Europe is the renewal of its military potential. Based on the facts and current statistics, the possibilities of updating the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the face of Russia's armed aggression are analyzed. This made it possible to state that international military-political assistance to Ukraine has become the determining direction for the renewal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the formation of a powerful defense potential of our state, maintaining security and political stability in the world. The economic, military-scientific, social, moral-psychological (spiritual) directions of the renewal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the conditions of Russia's armed aggression are singled out. At the same time, it is proposed to consider international military-political assistance to our country as the determining direction for updating the Armed Forces of Ukraine in war conditions. Based on statistical information, an analysis and ranking of partner countries was carried out depending on the size of their military assistance to Ukraine. The trend of providing military assistance to Ukraine by partner countries has been identified and clearly illustrated. The analysis showed that partner countries with a high level of GDP and defense spending did not always provide appropriate military assistance to Ukraine in the context of deterring Russia's military aggression.

The 2011 Vienna Document 2011 on confidence- and security-building measures remains one of the cornerstones of European security. It enhances trust and confidence among participating states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (osce) and allows for intrusive verification measures by the osce states. Despite the significant success achieved by many osce participating States in increasing the number of women in their armed forces, the number of women who participate in military verification (under this Document) remains low. This article contains information regarding international military cooperation related to the verification of military activities in which women’s involvement remains low. It also provides suggestions for further research concerning the reasons why so few women participate in the military verification activities and for ways to increase their participation.

More than 20 years ago, Philip Windsor proposed a succinct explanation of the East–West divide: ‘… the Cold War began with the deliberate Soviet decision to cut Europe in two and in reacting the Western powers took a deliberate decision to cut Germany in two.’ For the following two decades from 1969 to 1989, the formula ‘Peace and stability through partition” (U. Nerlich;J. Joffe) reflected widespread satisfaction with the territorial status quo in Europe. However, substantial disagreements (as L. Freedman observes p. 5) with established security policies, defence doctrines and armed forces' structures both in NATO and the Warsaw Pact (WP) might be taken as evidence that ‘Europe was on the verge of an historic change’. In respect of the state of public opinion, NATO ministers in early March 1988 declared the need gradually to overcome the unnatural division of Europe

In the era of the Napoleonic wars, the Ionian Islands off the western coasts of Greece and southern Albania became a base of operations and an area of conflict in the Mediterranean in the years 1797–1814. In that period, Republican French, Russian, Imperial French, and British forces successively occupied these Greek-populated islands, formerly Venetian possessions. Each of these powers attempted to establish a nominally independent "Septinsular Republic" under their protectorate. There were efforts by all of these powers to organize native armed forces, some raised from among refugees from the mainland-bandits (klephtes), former Ottoman irregulars (armatoloi), and clansmen from the autonomous regions of Himara, Souli, and Mani. Although these refugee warriors were skilled in the use of weapons-flintlock firearms, sabres and yataghans-they fought and were organized according to traditions and methods that were different and considered "obsolete" in early nineteenth century Europe. This study will look into the organization, training and command of these troops by Russian, French, and British officers. It will study the successes and failures of these officers in forming these native warriors into regular or semi-regular forces. It will also examine how the attitudes and activities of these officers helped to develop the armed forces of the Greek War of Independence, 1821–1830. Keywords: Napoleonic wars, Ionian Islands, armatoloi and klephtes, military forces

The developments of the Arab Spring of 2011 extended, among others, to Libya. As a consequence of the armed anti-government uprising supported militarily by the air forces of the Western powers (under the auspices of NATO), the regime of Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, who has controlled the state since the 1969 military coup, was overthrown. The collapse of the current regime has initiated the path to the social, political and economic transformation of the Libyan state. However, the rivalry of local political forces which is a reflection of tribal, regional and ideological divisions, prevented the emergence of an effective political system. As a result, Libya has evolved into a dysfunctional state and the processes of internal destabilization and lack of state borders control generate threats also for the international environment of the country (West Africa, East Africa, Europe).

Continuous changes in the world and Europe have posed new challenges to NATO. The Russian–Ukrainian conflict that began in 2014 has shown that, in addition to the fight against terrorism and peace operations, the possibility of procedures and confrontations in the traditional sense must not be forgotten either. In the 21st century, the battlefield conflicts are already taking place in a complex and rapidly changing environment that requires forces to keep pace with change because that is the only way they can perform their duties successfully. In response to the challenges listed, the Hungarian Government launched the Zrínyi 2026 Defence and Armed Forces Development Program, a full-spectrum force development program aimed at making the Hungarian Armed Forces a dominant force in the region. Among the developments affecting the shooting range of the program, the regularisation of the Lynx KF-41 infantry fighting vehicle should be highlighted. Due to its capabilities, the new Western instrument is sufficiently feasible for the battlefields of the future, but the procedures that we used before IFOR, i.e. the Eastern military equipment can no longer be applied. In our study, we present the features, modern challenges that a modern battlefield poses for a combat vehicle. We analyse the unique features of the Lynx Kf-41 and the challenges that will require vehicle application and team training in the future.

I summarise new facts on hours worked differences across countries and their driving forces. The facts are derived from a comprehensive analysis of micro data sets. First, hours worked are substantially higher in poor than in rich countries. Second, lower hours worked in Europe than in the US can partly be explained by differences in vacation weeks and partly by differences in the demographic structure. Moreover, employment rates tend to be higher and weekly hours worked lower in Western Europe and Scandinavia than in the US, with the opposite being true in Eastern and Southern Europe. Last, among core-aged individuals, married women form the group that exhibits the largest differences in hours worked across countries. International differences in taxation, and especially in the tax treatment of married couples, are an important driver of these differences.

This paper focuses on how the paramilitary organisations of the Turkish state have transformed and been used over time as a ‘useful’ tool against dissidents, especially the Kurds. Paramilitary groups have been one of the main actors in the war between the Turkish state and the PKK, which has been ongoing for nearly forty years. These groups have sometimes been used as auxiliary forces and at other times made into death squads operating alongside the official armed forces, and they have mainly been used against Kurdish civilians who allegedly support the PKK, especially at the height of the war in unsolved murders, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings since the 1980. In this article, I argue that the Turkish state elites use this apparatus not only in domestic politics but also in conflicts in the Middle East and the Caucasus and that this paramilitary tradition of the state even extends to western Europe.

NATO's military strategy and doctrine have become one of the main references for Western strategic thinking and for the development of military strategy and doctrine in Spain. The Alliance's strategy started from a very specific scenario in the Cold War to expand after it towards a stabilization role outside Europe, and paradoxically return to the starting point afterwards due to the return of the Russian threat. Along this path, key concepts were developed on the use of conventional military power, nuclear weapons and new forms of asymmetric or hybrid conflict. Despite the fact that Spain entered NATO late and in a very peculiar way, NATO strategy and doctrine were essential to modernize both the armed forces and the strategic thinking in our country.

Background: Episiotomy is the most common surgical incision in midwifery. It's important to study the frequency of episiotomy and its associated factors in women with spontaneous vaginal delivery SVD. Therefore, this study conducted to determine the prevalence of episiotomy and the affecting factors of performing episiotomy among delivering women in King Salman Armed Forces Hospital in Tabuk City, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study is a descriptive “prospective” cross sectional design. Done among all women who are delivered with spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) in KSAFWRH labour and delivery ward. Results: Overall responders are 215 of total 300 research tools were analysed using SPSS 22 software. 132 the indication was prime parity, 66 were because of rigid perineum, while 63 were due to baby distress .The prime who had episiotomy due to prime parity were 132(91.06%), while the multi paras had episiotomy due to rigid perineum with 39(59.09%). There is a significant relation in the fetal distress and history of C/S and child birth attendance with most of the variables. Conclusion: The primary objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of episiotomy and the affecting factors of performing episiotomy among delivering women. 300 research tool was distributed to midwifes to fill for each active vaginal delivery case, excluded 93 paper due to incomplete data. Within 207 complete research tools findings are showing 132 the indication was prime parity, 66 were because of rigid perineum, while 63 were due to baby distress .The prime who had episiotomy due to prime parity were 132(91.06%), while the multi paras had episiotomy due to rigid perineum with 39(59.09%). Chi- Square test was applied to calculate the p-value, there is a significant relation in the fetal distress and history of C/S and child birth attendance with most of the variables.

Military revolutions are a normal consequence of the central role of military institutions in complex societies. They have everywhere occurred regularly, if infrequently; they are scarcely limited to Western Europe, or even to the modern world. This essay discusses recent writings on two military revolutions in the ancient world, both centered on the military horse: first, its domestication and its role in pulling war chariots; second, the transition from horse driving to horse riding in battle. The chariot revolution of the second millennium BC profoundly reshaped warfare and transformed polities all across Eurasia. The cavalry revolution of the first millennium BC proved equally transformative and far longer lasting. Despite the controversy that has come to surround the concept of military revolution, it may still be fruitfully applied to important aspects of the large-scale historical interactions between societies and their armed forces.

An altogether common assumption amongst Western and many Central/Eastern officials is that the post-Communist defense institutions have, more or less, been successful in adopting Western concepts of defense governance. A careful review of the data strongly suggests that these organizations remain largely bound by Communist-legacy defense concepts which inhibit them from producing defense outcomes. As such, it is unclear whether these armed forces are capable of contributing effectively to the Alliance’s common defense. Despite being ‘relatively’ reformed by regional standards, the paper argues that the Slovenian defense institution harbors some legacy practices (e.g. centralization of decision-making) and weaknesses (e.g. defense planning) that urgently need to be addressed by Slovenian political and defense officials. Povsem običajna domneva zahodnih in številnih srednje- in vzhodnoevropskih funkcionarjev je, da so obrambne ustanove nekdanjih komunističnih držav bolj ali manj uspešno prilagodile zahodne koncepte upravljanja obrambnega resorja. Po skrbnem pregledu podatkov ugotavljamo, da so te organizacije še vedno zelo odvisne od obrambnih konceptov nekdanjih komunističnih ureditev, kar jih ovira pri zagotavljanju rezultatov na obrambnem področju. Vprašanje je torej, ali so te oborožene sile zmožne učinkovito prispevati k skupni obrambi zavezništva. Čeprav so po regionalnih standardih precej reformirane, v članku ugotavljamo, da je v slovenskem obrambnem ustroju še vedno nekaj ostankov starih praks (na primer centraliziran sistem odločanja) in pomanjkljivosti (na primer obrambno načrtovanje), na katere morajo biti slovenski politični in obrambni funkcionarji še posebej pozorni

The geopolitical security condition of Eastern Europe has undergone a drastic shift from Communist to Democratic ideology. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Poland immediately joined the Western alliance, which led to the massive structural changes of the country. The shift has had an enormous impact on Russia where it has made various confrontations to regain its influence in the region. Russia continues to increase tensions by increasing the military capabilities of Kaliningrad Oblast, which is directly bordered by Poland. In response, the Polish government made efforts to modernize its military as part of the Defense White Book 2013 to improve its military capabilities in response to Russian military presence in Kaliningrad Oblast. The role of the global players (EU, NATO, and the USA) is key important to the security stability of the region. Poland on its four pillars specifically calls the alliance with the USA and becomes a member of NATO as an important factor in the formulation of its defense policy, in which Poland could increase the capabilities of its Armed Forces.

German immigrants who were evacuated by the German authorities in 1943–1944 from the USSR to the territory of Warthegau, Silesia, General Government and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, became part of the human resources actively used not only in the economy, but also in defensive measures of the Reich. Contrary to the fact that the mobilization of that potential contingent was relatively low, tens of thousands of men were in the ranks of the armed forces of Germany. A significant number of Soviet Germans were replenishment for the SS troops. The initial process of attracting German settlers to military service was not easy and required adherence to a number of formalities related to their naturalization. One of the key factors that also had an effect on solving the issue of ethnic Germans in the internal service was the long-standing contradiction between the Wehrmacht and the SS. The article notes that, in the last months of the war, immigrants from the USSR found themselves in practically no alternative situation, since the military and political leadership of Germany decided to mobilize all men appropriate for military service, regardless of the naturalization. By the end of hostilities in Europe, many Soviet Germans serving in the German army had been captured by the Western allies or the Red Army.

Historians have had a great deal of difficulty accounting for the debacle wrought by Operation Barbarossa. How could the Red Army, a large and heavily equipped force, be so thoroughly decimated by the Wehrmacht, especially when evidence of the impending attack was plentiful? Most commonly, explanations have focused on the unexpectedly rapid success of the Blitzkrieg in western Europe, the impact of the Great Purges on the Soviet officer corps, the problems of reequipping the Red Army with modern weaponry and protecting newly expanded borders, the lack of adequate training for the rapidly growing Soviet armed forces, the confusing nature of available intelligence, and, most of all, the nearly fatal self-delusion of Iosif Stalin, which prevented the implementation of proper defensive measures. Although Stalin certainly realized that the Nazi-Soviet Pact was no more than a temporary truce and that a German attack was ultimately inevitable, he deluded himself that Adolf Hitler could be appeased until Soviet forces had grown strong enough to meet the Nazi assault. Soviet shipments of petroleum products, various raw materials, and foodstuffs were critically important to the German war machine and, thus, the key element in Stalin's strategy of appeasing Hitler.

Military history is often misconstrued as a field requiring little intellectual skill, in which the historian provides little more than a chronology of generals and battles. Analysis of one hundred of the twenty-first century's best military histories reveals that military history today goes well beyond such subject matter, incorporating social, cultural, and political history. Common areas of inquiry for contemporary historians include the impact of society, culture, and politics on a country's ability to wage war; the social, cultural, and political after-effects of war; the society and culture of military organizations; and the relationship between military organizations and the communities from which they spring. While historians continue to devote considerable attention to the conventional militaries of Europe and the United States, many also are studying small armies, irregular forces, non-state actors, civil wars, and non-Western armed forces. Within the military realm, historians frequently tackle subjects of much greater complexity than the generals-and-battles stereotype would suggest, to include the relationship between technological and human factors, the interdependency of land and naval warfare, and the influence of political direction on the military.

The “Military Revolution”, which became a concentrated manifestation of Europe’s political leadership during the XVIIth – XVIIIth centuries, produced new realities in the military sphere: regular armies, subordinated and held by centralized states, unified arms and clothing, division into types of military forces, special drill and education for soldiers and officers. Leadership in military technology consisted of fortifications and artillery that developed in the direction of increasing technical capacity, unification and standardization of new weapons. New approaches to the organization of the armed forces changed the character of wars. If in the XVIIth century East and West of Europe had a kind of parity in their military achievements and technologies, then in the XVIIIth century it finally moved to the West. In this context, an important issue is how Western European achievements were spread in Ukraine, in particular the Cossack Hetmanate, whose military-political model was clearly structured for military purposes. The analysis of these influences and borrowings shows that they were heterogeneous in nature. In the Cossack army, elements of the regular troop duty and sentry service and even drill instructions were gradually being appeared. The Cossack starshyna (officials) faced with the practice of the regular army during the Russian imperial wars. However, all these influences were episodic and spontaneous, without changing the essence of the military institutions of the Hetmanate. In artillery, technical innovations were implemented more actively, but were hampered by lack of funding. In the fortification area, the control of which was completely transferred to imperial power, Western technologies and specialists, were used by metropolitan power in their own defensive projects. It is significant that the acquaintance and borrowing of any military innovations in the XVIIIth century occurred almost exclusively through Russian mediation. This tendency was fully in line with the gradual loss of the Hetmanate’s sovereignty, the destruction of its army.

Amazons are usually associated with the period of the early Iron Age. However, a large number of graves of armed women of the early Middle Ages are known in the territory of Eurasia. In the Scandinavian countries, the period of the 9th — the first half of the 11th centuries was called the «Viking Age». This period is related to the military, commercial and demographic expansion of the Scandinavians. During the archaeological researches, burials of women with weapons were recorded in the cemeteries of Denmark, Norway and Southern Sweden. They constitute a small series of 16 funerary complexes. Typically, the female warriors were buried in individual graves, and only occasionally they were accompanied by a woman or a child. Only in two cases armed man and woman of equal social level were placed in one grave. In the necropolis, the graves of the Amazons are usually localized among the military graves. On the territory of Western Europe, both rites of burial of warriors — inhumation and cremation are registered. The age range of female warriors is quite wide — from 10 to 50—60 years, with the domination of young women. The material complex showed that women’s weapons were intended for both remote (bows and arrows, spears) and close combat (swords, knives, axes). And in this period preference was given to axes. Several graves of female warriors were accompanied by a horse or a set of horse ammunition. This means that women could also fight in the equestrian battles. Based on the range and the number of weapons, the Amazons of the Viking Age mainly were part of the lightly armed units. These women took up arms on a par with men in moments of acute necessity — periods of seizing of new territories or defending their lands from an external enemy.

The Russian regular army and navy were created in the course of Peter the Great’s military reforms carried out under the circumstances of warfare of the 20-year long Great Northern War. The article explores the main specificities of this military build-up process. It is shown how the introduction of conscription fundamentally changed the organization of the armed forces, made them regular, well-trained, combat-ready and provided with professional officer corps. The replacement of the old military administration bodies by the new ones as well as military implications of the territorial reform of 1707-1708s are considered. The author emphasizes that at the beginning of the 18th century, conscription was a progressive phenomenon and quickly proved its superiority over the systems of recruiting mercenary armies adopted in Western Europe. The army manning system established under Peter the Great lasted, on the whole, until Milyutin's military reforms of the 1860s-70s. In the course of Peter's reforms Russia created a military that could not only win the Great Northern War, but moved to one of the first places in Europe in organization, armament and combat training.

An increasingly intensive activity has been noticed recently at the international level with regard to the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and associated resolutions. More and more international events regarding women, peace and security are being organised every year, education and training programmes as well as a conceptual framework of the gender perspective are being developed, and system solutions in both international organisations and national structures are being put forward. One of such solutions is the appointment of ambassadors for women, peace and security, as well as of gender advisors on gender perspective. Last year, a full-time advisor position in this field was set up at the General Staff of the Slovenian Armed Forces. Being a subject matter expert for the area of gender perspective in the Slovenian Armed Forces, I am pleased that the importance of the agenda regarding women, peace and security has been recognised and that a publication has been issued at the academic level by involving experts and gaining support from the leadership. I am grateful to my international colleagues for their papers, for having kindly responded to the invitation to share their views, solutions and experiences with us. This is indeed the main value of this publication: sharing is caring. The set of topics demonstrates to what extent the Resolution and the gender perspective are implemented, ranging from the international level, through national solutions and to the realisation in international operations and missions. Although Resolution 1325 is extensively explained in individual papers, I would like to introduce several key factors linking the Resolution and the gender perspective, to proffer a better understanding of the topic and emphasise why the integration of the gender perspective is vital for both Slovenian and international landscape. The basis for this discussion are conceptual solutions of international organisations and my participation in the NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives. Actions like this are vital for they aim to develop the said area and encourage new ways of thinking,thereby highlighting compound gender-related topics and informing the practices of Slovenian Armed Forces. Resolution 1325 is a milestone for the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution, in peace processes, humanitarian response and in post conflict reconstruction. It underlines three interlinking factors, i.e. women, peace and security. There is no security without peace, and no peace without a safe and secure environment. Moreover, there is no peace and security without addressing the entire population. In the past, women were frequently excluded from peace processes. If solely one perspective is included, the expected result can be partial. In 15 years since the adoption of Resolution 1325, the increased asymmetric threats in a complex security environment have resulted in the need for more comprehensive approaches to ensure security and peace around the world. During this time, many facts which were ignored in the past have been seriously discussed at the international level with the aim of finding solutions. Armed conflicts and the post-conflict period affect women differently than men. Boys and girls too are affected differently, in relative terms. Importantly, acts of men and women in such circumstances can be either different or the same, but due to socially constructed perceptions they are accepted differently. More particularly, it should be stressed that socially constructed is their gender, which is a concept that this introduction defines as social and cultural characteristics associated with a given sex (whereas sex refers to biological differences between males, females, and intersex persons, and is assigned at birth). Gender as such materialises in our reality: for example, while during armed conflicts the majority of men are recruited for combat tasks, women stay at home with children or are forced to leave their homes. That is why they make up the majority of internally displaced persons and refugees both on refugee routes and in refugee camps. Their safety is compromised in such circumstances; they are often targeted by groups of combatants, kidnapped, enslaved or abused. It should also be noted that girls and boys are not exposed in the same way: girls can be subject to pre- mature and forced marriages, boys to early recruitment into combatant groups. As regards the general recognition of the role of men and women in armed conflicts and beyond, the most common perception is of women as victims and men as combatants. However, the truth is that women also are combatants and strong actors for peace, and men are victims of intentionally committed acts. Furthermore, a serious problem in contemporary conflicts is sexual and gender-based violence. This is an alarming issue. This form of violence is predominantly inflicted against women, although also girls, boys and men suffer from it, either in the form of torture or as a weapon of war. It could be said that the gender perspective in relation to international operations and missions has, on the one hand, developed for the purpose of implementing Resolution 1325 and, on the other hand, resulted from militaries’ experiences. Central to the gender perspective in international operations and missions is making women’s and men’s experiences and concerns integral to operation processes, whilst taking into account the different security-related situations these individuals face in line with their gender. As it has been argued, there is evidence that women and men, boys and girls, face different security risks - a process underpinned by the way their masculinities and femininities are perceived in a given culture and society, i.e. gender. Being able to recognise and understand the entire security situation as broadly as possible is crucial for operational effectiveness. Recognising the routes of women, which are usually different from routes used by men due to their individual gender roles, can affect the execution of an operation. Such information influences the provision of security, force protection and operational success. Therefore, the integration of the gender perspective into every process at all levels and in every stage of action is of extreme importance; comprehensive information on situation in the area of operation contribute to decisions of those in command. Experiences gained in international operations and missions have led to observations on certain limitations in the execution of tasks, particularly at the tactical level, for example as regards the exclusion of women from the local environment, particularly in those areas of operation where women are not allowed to communicate publicly with unknown men and where the structure and personnel are predominantly male. The inclusion of the gender perspective into task accomplishment has thus become a necessity to which international organisations, such as UN, NATO, the EU and other have drawn attention. In their structures, the contemporary armed forces need both female and male members at all levels and on different duties. This holds true for the fulfilment of tasks in international operations and missions and for the execution of tasks in domestic environment. International organisations tend to increasingly emphasize the importance of the inclusion of women into all structures; however, questions regarding women in armed forces keep appearing in the military, particularly as regards gender equality, physical performance of women and removal of restrictions in relation to the fulfilment of certain duties for women. There are growing tendencies to implement the gender equality principle, whereby a risk of equating equality with sameness may appear in the militaries. However, to perceive equality as sameness can lead to unilateral or too general solutions. Concerns, for example, that taking into account the biological differences between men and women in setting the standards could mean lower criteria and poorer performance actually lead to more important question: are standards really defined according to the requirements of individual duties or are they too general, and are they also established on the basis of the inclusion of gender perspective? It is crucial to understand that different tasks require different competences and preparedness of an individual. Indeed, the truth is that men and women will never be the same. There is variety between males and females which should be recognised as an advantage and not as a weakness. Failing to include the spectrum of gender, the wholeness cannot be reached; the inclusion of both male and female perspective on the same issue leads to integrity by bringing together the diversity. Due to changing security environment, we all are faced with new challenges, requiring even stronger networking of organisations both at the national and international levels in order to ensure comprehensive and effective solutions. Meteorological changes causing large-scale destruction call more often for the engagement of the armed forces in search and rescue tasks. Last year, mass migration from conflict zones, the Middle East and Africa to Europe required the involvement of the armed forces into tasks at home. Similarly as in fulfilling the tasks in international operations and missions, the armed forces and other government and non-government organisations dealing with refugees and migrants were faced with different cultures, where socially determined roles of men and women have great significance. Such circumstances promote further knowledge about the integration of gender perspective in new directions. The fundamental fact that the society is made up of women and men, girls and boys, remains, just as the diversity which, in its integrity, should bring us all towards ensuring security and peace. I wish you a pleasant reading of papers hoping they will help broaden new horizons and encourage new thoughts.

<p>Neste artigo discute-se o impacto de políticas organizacionais sobre a construção de igualdade de oportunidades e integração de género nas Forças Armadas. Após uma apresentação de dados empíricos que permitem a caracterização global dos factores condicionantes e da situação das mulheres militares nas democracias ocidentais, analisa-se o papel das políticas organizacionais na promoção da igualdade de oportunidades e integração de género nas Forças Armadas. Conclui-se que nem sempre políticas destinadas a promover a igualdade formal terão idênticos efeitos em termos de integração social, e que as políticas parecem ser condição necessária, mas não suficiente para assegurar maiores níveis de equidade entre sexos no universo militar.</p><p>In this article, the impact of the organizational policies on the construction of the equality of opportunity and integration of the gender in the Armed Forces is discussed. After a presentation of the empirical data that allow the global characterization of the determining factors and the situation of the military women in Western democracies, the paper of the organizational policies in the promotion of the equality of opportunity and gender integration in the Armed Forces is analyzed. The conclusion is that not always the policies destined to promote the formal equality will have identical effects in terms of social integration, and that the policies seem to be a necessary condition, but not enough to assure greater levels of equality between sexes in the military universe.<br /> </p>

After 45 years as a closest ally of the Soviet Union in the Warsaw Pact, founded mainly against the US and the Western Europe countries, and 15 years of democratic changes, since 2004 Bulgaria has been a full member of NATO and an equal and trusted partner of its former enemies. The unprecedented transformation has affected all aspects of the Bulgarian society. As a function of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, Bulgarian military medicine and in particular Bulgarian military neurosurgery is indivisibly connected with their development. The history of Bulgarian military neurosurgery is the history of the transition from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics military system and military medicine to NATO standards in every aspect. The career of the military neurosurgeon in Bulgaria is in many ways similar to that of the civilian neurosurgeon, but there are also many peculiarities. The purpose of this study was to outline the background and the history of Bulgarian military neurosurgery as well as its future trends in the conditions of world globalization.

Did Europeans have a military advantage over other peoples of the world during the early modern period (1500-1800)? Scholars of the “military revolution” school have argued that European guns, tactics, fortification techniques, and ships conferred significant benefits on European forces, whereas other scholars suggest that the European military edge was slight at best. This article examines the first armed conflict in history between European and Chinese forces: the so-called Sino-Portuguese War of 1521 and 1522. Scholars on both sides of the military effectiveness argument have adduced this conflict to buttress their positions, but there are few studies of it in either western or East Asian languages. This article suggests that during the first set of engagements, which occurred in 1521, Portuguese artillery was markedly superior, but that in the second set of engagements, in 1522, Chinese artillery played a significant role, causing significant damage to the Portuguese. If there was still a gap in 1522, it was much smaller. Thus, the Sino-Portuguese conflict is less interesting for what it tells us about the “military balance” than for what it tells us about military change. When we discuss military balances, we tend to forget how swiftly they could shift, how rapidly adaptations could take hold. Indeed, historians should take a wider perspective on the military revolution: it was not a process that simply occurred in Europe and provided an edge to Europeans abroad. It was, rather, a global process of intermixture and adaptation. In the case of China, the rapid adoption of western artillery may have started around the time of the Sino-Portuguese Conflict, but it continued through the ensuing decades, as the Ming redesigned Portuguese-style guns and adapted them to their own needs until the only thing western about them was their name: Frankish guns.

The historical literature devoted the Great War in Africa is dominated by the struggle between the German forces, superbly commanded by the initially lieutenant colonel, and finally general Major Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and units of the British Empire. The main reason of such situation is that in the east of Africa, the Germans continued fighting until the ceasefire in Western Europe in November 1918. In this narrative, there is relatively little room for a broader description of the struggles between the Germans and the Portuguese in Mozambique. The Luzytan military effort was described mainly, and at the same time disapprovingly, by the British. The impression appears that Albion deprecating the Iberian ally tried to dump a significant portion of the responsibility for the South-East Africa failures. The intention of the author of this text is to show Portuguese actions in an objective manner, not burdened with the British imperial narrative. It serves, above all, the use of Portuguese materials. This is - according to the author's knowledge - the first such attempt in the area of Polish historical-military literature. The author discussed the course of armed operations between the Portuguese and German forces and their impact on the findings of international conferences building a new balance of power after the end of the Great War.

Prior to their invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Federation was seen as having a vastly superior ability to conduct operations in the information environment, particularly their ability to influence foreign audiences, when compared to their western counterparts (Cunningham, 2020). However, the efforts of Ukraine, NATO allies, and other aligned nations to conduct operations in the information environment with intelligence pre-bunking, traditional diplomacy, and sanctions, blunted many of Russia’s best efforts. Further tactical and operational failures from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation also undercut the salience of Russian messaging campaigns. This does not mean that Russia’s efforts in the informational environment fully failed or did not adapt to these actions in the lead-up and continuation of the war. Through the use of the Natural Language Processing (NLP) technique transformer-based topic modeling (Grootendorst, 2022) and the causal inference technique Bayesian Structural Time Series analysis (Brodersen, 2015) this paper looks to both qualitatively and quantitatively examine how Russian state media on Twitter reacted, changed narratives, and focused efforts regionally from January 1st through September 1st, 2022. Through this analysis we argue that Russian efforts in Europe may have been of limited success. We further argue that by shifting focus, Russia gained influence in South America, and Middle East and North Africa, where their influence operations faced minimal obstructions, such as sanctions, and a latent anti-western sentiment.

The article examines Benelux defence cooperation model. Research methodology is based on comparative research which is applied to the so called defence clusters framed by small nations of Western Europe. The article discusses the main parameters of the defence cooperation among Benelux countries for today and for upcoming future. It traces the origin and growth of military ties among Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg after the end of the Cold War. In this regard defence priorities of these small nations are assumed within the context of changing security environment in Europe and beyond. The main areas of their joint activity, specific programs and projects of defence cooperation are being traced. Military reform notably personnel size reduction and armed forces reorientation towards new tasks dealing are being analyzed. Economic reasons which determine the level of ambition in militarytechnical cooperation among Benelux countries are also taken into consideration. The influence of external factors, notably Benelux partner nations from EU and NATO is also analyzed. It is calculated to what measure new developments inside EU (like Brexit or transatlantic disputes) affect the overall European security climate. Universal nature of Benelux defence model is a good example of incubator where new ideas and concepts emerge and turn into achievements that are similarly profitable for both EU and NATO. Experience gained by the three allies inside their defence cluster may become a model for other sub-regional groupings in Europe. The results of the study shows that Benelux defence cluster is a promising track of cooperation among its member states and it may be further improved.

Abstract The ability to claim an eminent right over property was central to the parliamentary war effort. Relying on a narrative of necessity that jurists in both England and in western Europe had increasingly used since the end of the sixteenth century, MPs gave the English political public a narrative parallel to that of a beggar in extreme duress: in order for it to survive, the property rights of English subjects needed to give way. Scholars have noted the Long parliament's use of necessity in the past in order to disassociate the causes of the Civil War from a ‘rule of law’ ideology or to make a claim that Parliament made a novel political theory of emergency. Yet the Long parliament was not abandoning English law nor was it generating a novel theory of emergency. Instead, it was relying on legal concepts that jurists and Crown officials commonly used to advance the power of the state. This law of necessity was controversial, however, and the Long parliament's continued use of it generated conflict even as it also enabled MPs to seize control over England's armed forces.

This article builds upon queer feminist and decolonial/TWAIL interventions into the history of international law, questioning the dominant discourses about gender and sexual victimhood in the laws of armed conflict. In Part One, I examine how early European international law writers (re)produced binary and hierarchical ideas about gender in influential legal texts, discursively creating a world in which wartime violence only featured men and women in strictly defined roles (a construction which continues to influence the practice of law today). In Part Two, I decenter these dominant discourses by looking outside Europe, questioning what a truly “international” law would look like if non-Western ideas about gender diversity and hierarchy had instead been allowed to contribute to its development. I demonstrate how gender diversity was the norm, not the exception, for multiple Indigenous and non-Western communities prior to colonization, drawing new connections between gendered oppression, colonial violence, and the continued practice of international law. This analysis provides an important bridge between queer and TWAIL critiques of international law, challenging lawyers and academics to think beyond mainstream ideas about binary gender when considering gender-based violence.

The article focuses on the politics of representation in Kosova since the United Nations took over ‘peace management’ in 1999. It uses UN propaganda posters (political pedagogy) and local nationalist political advertising as a way to read the multiple gendered discourses of representation. It shows how gender is used relationally between competing forces – the ‘international community’ and nationalists – as a tool to ensure UN's imposition of Western policies and norms and as a mechanism for local politicians to consolidate their domination of the domestic/private sphere. Moreover, it discusses the price paid to mimic the West: how Kosovar politicians have sought to ‘undo’ national identity in favour of a Western self-representation through a gendered abnegation of Islam. Thus, as an intrinsic part of the discourse of ‘peace-building’, these images represent the site of power production, domination, negotiation, and rejection, involving the collaboration of different actors, institutions, and individuals. Three specific points will be made: first, the article seeks to show that a Western political modernization discourse has, paradoxically, reinforced patriarchal relations of power and traditional gender roles in Kosova through the subjugation of women. Second, it explains the inability to resolve competing Albanian narratives – one relying on the legacy of peaceful resistance and the other on the armed struggle against Serbian domination during the 1990s. Third, through the intermeshing of international peace-keepers and local nationalist patriarchs, it will show how the militarization of culture is perpetuated through, and in relationship to, gender.

The article examines such a little-known phenomenon of national history as foreign military mercenaries, who helped Ukrainians defend their country’s independence. This problem is investigated on the example of the Assembly Center of the Ukrainian National Army (Zbirna Stanytsia Ukrainskoi Natsionalnoi armii, in Ukrainian, abbreviated ZS UNA), which in 1918–1923 operated in the Austrian capital Vienna. At this time, after the end of the First World War and the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the nations of Central and Eastern Europe proclaimed their nation states. The Western Ukrainian People’s Republic (Zakhidnoukrainska narodna respublika, in Ukrainian, abbreviated ZUNR), which in November 1918 was proclaimed in the Ukrainian ethnic lands of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire was among them. The young Ukrainian state had many personnel problems during the formation of its armed forces, named the Galician Army. To solve these problems Assembly Center of the Ukrainian National Army in Vienna was established. Its creators were Ukrainian politicians and soldiers of former Austro-Hungarian army. ZS UNA recruited for the Ukrainian military service non-Ukrainian soldiers and also transported at home Ukrainian soldiers, who after the end of First World War remained in Austria and other European countries. The research is based on a critical study of the working documentation of the Assembly Center of the Ukrainian National Army, other documents of the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Galician Army, including published in newspapers of that period and in numerous memoirs of veterans of the Ukrainian revolution. Many of these documents have not been used in scientific practice yet.

The article provides a comparative analysis of the methodology for concealing war crimes committed by Russia against Ukraine from the beginning of World War II to the current Russian-Ukrainian war (since 2014); show the similarity of the actions of the Nazi regime of Hitler and the racist regime of Putin in the struggle against the Ukrainian national liberation movement and its leaders in the European context. The beginning of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, the horrific atrocities of the Russian army in Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, Mariupol and other cities and villages of our country, uncovered in racist areas, confirmed that nothing had changed from Stalin’s punitive occupiers. times, and in many cases it became even more inhumane and cruel, surpassing the atrocities of the Nazis during World War II. The mass atrocities of the Russian military against civilians, especially women and children, the destruction of maternity hospitals, kindergartens, schools, hospitals, and cultural institutions surpassed the Nazi atrocities of the Nazis during World War II. Today, Russia has acted as a Nazi aggressor not only against Ukraine, but also against the entire Western world. At the same time, the Russian leadership is trying to cover up the traces of their crimes, or shift the blame on the Ukrainians themselves, as in previous years on the Poles, Germans, Finns and others. The aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine is manifested in the use of armed force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of Ukraine. War crimes were committed by representatives of the authorities of the Russian Federation, the leadership of its armed forces, regular troops and military units that are not formally subordinate to the leadership of the armed forces under current law. Methods of fabricating and disclosing false information and the methodology of Russian lies have a long tradition. The historical parallels between Hitler’s Nazi regime during World War II and modern-day Putin’s Russia, and the answer to the question of whether their crimes are different, clearly show that there is no such difference. After all, Bucha, Mariupol, Irpin and other Russian-occupied towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine have shown the true nature, scale and consequences of the racist regime in action. Key words: Ukrainian national liberation movement, Nazism, racism, war crimes, World War II, Russian-Ukrainian war (since 2014).

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer death among women. Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2/ neu) status are used as an important prognostic marker for breast cancer.Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate ER and Her-2 in breast carcinoma among Bangladeshi women and to co-relate with other prognostic parameters.Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in a tertiary level hospital in Bangladesh during the period of January 2010 to December 2011. Total 100 histologically proved breast carcinoma cases were included in the study. Immunostaining for ER and Her-2/neu were carried out. Quick scoring of ER and expression of Her-2/neu were correlated with histomorphological parameters.Results: Among 100 cases 93 were ductal carcinoma and 07 were non ductal. Among all, 38% show ER positive (score- 3-8) while 62% are ER negative (score 0-2). Her-2/neu was over expressed in 30%, 22% were borderline and 48% were negative. There were inverse relationship between ER positivity and Her-2/neu overexpression. ER positivity was related with lower histological grade, while Her-2/neu overexpression was related with higher histological grade.Conclusions: ER positivity in Breast carcinoma patients in Bangladesh is lower in comparison to western literature while Her-2/neu overexpression rate is quite high like other Asian countries.Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.11(1) 2015: 7-13

The arming of Europe and the making of the First World War. By David G. Herrmann. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. Pp. xiii+307. ISBN 0-691-03374-9. £29.50.Armaments and the coming of war: Europe 1904–1914. By David Stevenson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Pp. xi+463. ISBN 0-19-820208-3. £48.00.Authority, identity and the social history of the Great War. Edited by Frans Coetzee and Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee. Providence and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1995. Pp. xxii+362. ISBN 1-57181-017-X. £40.Dismembering the male: men's bodies, Britain and the Great War. By Joanna Bourke. London: Reaktion Books, 1996. Pp. 336. ISBN 0-948462825. £19.95.Passchendaele: the untold story. By Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996. Pp. xv+237. ISBN 0-300-066292-9. £19.95.Battle tactics of the western front: the British army's art of attack, 1916–1918. By Paddy Griffith. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1996 (paperback edition). Pp. xvi+286. ISBN 0-300-06663-5. No price given.Government and the armed forces in Britain, 1856–1990. Edited by Paul Smith. London, Hambledon Press, 1996. Pp. xviii+324. ISBN 1-85285-144-9. £35.Whether or not arms races cause wars was a historiographical preoccupation of the Cold War era. The issue was then of more than academic concern. Those opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons saw previous arms races as having destabilized the international system at best and as having led ineluctably to war at worst. Their critics countered that arms races possessed the capacity to increase terror and so promote more effective deterrence.

Contemporary theories and typologies of welfare states in Western Europe assume that social democratic parties are the engine behind progressive policies on gender roles and on the participation of women in the labor force. The French case challenges these assumptions—this conservative welfare state, surprisingly, provides an extensive system of public day care along with other forms of support that facilitate mothers' employment. This article explains the existence of the French system through a comparative historical analysis of child care policy in France and other European welfare states. The mainfindingsconcern the role of organized religion in shaping contemporary public day care policies. In contrast to most conservative welfare regimes, the French welfare state has been shaped not by clericalism and Christian democracy but by secularism and republican nationalism—forces that influenced some of the earliest public policies for the education of young children in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that later affected the founding of the contemporary day care system in the 1970s. In that latter period of propitious economic circumstances, pragmatic policy elites eschewed moralizing critiques of mothers' employment and established a system of financing that has enabled the long-term expansion of public day care. These findings have implications for our understanding of gender politics and welfare regimes in Western Europe. The secularization of political life—not social democratic power—best explains why public policies in France and in many Scandinavian countries have promoted the demise of the traditional family model.

The article deals with the foreign policy aspects in the ideological concept of Stepan Bandera’s Organisation of Ukrainian Nationatists (OUN-B) during the period from the change of position and balance of forces in the Eastern Front of World War II in 1943 and its transformation during the following postwar decades until the eve of the restoration of Ukraine’s independence. The author examines the OUN’s geopolitical calculations for an armed confrontation between the USSR, on the one hand, and the allied United States and Great Britain, on the other; the beginning of the search for ways of the organisation’s cooperation with Western democracies; its attitude to the threat of a nuclear war, etc. Also analysed is the OUN-B leadership’s vision of the geostrategic place of the future Ukrainian state in the international arena and, in particular, in the post-Soviet space and on the map of Central and Eastern Europe. The article sheds light on the vision of the role and place of independent Ukraine in international politics, particularly with respect to possible military and political blocs, Ukraine’s role in the United Nations, its attitude to the prospect of united Europe, the war in Afghanistan, national liberation movements and the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the restoration of Ukraine’s state independence, and its place in the post-Soviet and European space. By way of conclusion, the author argues that the Cold War turned out to be helpful in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and allowed Ukraine to restore its national independence in 1991. Nonetheless, the modern national security agenda of Ukraine and the need for the world’s peace and balance necessitate curbing the imperialist, bellicose, and culpably terrorist actions and intents of Russia, the successor of the USSR. Keywords: OUN-B, Cold War, geopolitics, national liberation movements.

Abstract There are somewhere between 200 million and 600 million Pentecostal/ Charismatic Christians in the world today. Most of them live in the “majority world,” and two thirds are women. Pentecostals are proud of being modern and frequently boast of it. Yet “Pentecostal modernity” is not a straightforward clone of the intellectual and political history of Europe and the North Atlantic. It contains paradoxical elements that can be plausibly interpreted as evidence of purposefully moral selectiveness by Pentecostals among the items in the “modern” cultural program. They in effect help to “heal the wounds of modernity.” This account of Pentecostal modernity also seeks to show that in two particular respects Pentecostal modernity might be considered a “correction” of Charles Taylor’s western model of modernity: in regarding human flourishing as spiritually sanctioned; and in retaining a porous model of the self, vertically open to possession by the Spirit or by forces of evil, and horizontally open by retaining some “dividual” characteristics of embeddedness with others.

Introduction: Infertility is very often observed in women. It is the failure to conceive after one year of regular unprotected coitus. Data from population based studies suggest that 10-15% couples in the western world experience infertility. Infertility can be caused by a number of factors. Hormonal problems are amongst the important factors contributing to female infertility. Aim: The aim of this study was to ascertain the FSH(Follicle Stimulating Hormone), LH(Leuteinizing Hormone), Prolactin, Testosterone, FT3(Free Triiodothyronine), FT4(Free Thyroxine), TSH(Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) and Oestradiol levels in infertile women. Methods: This observational study was carried out over a period of 1 year from June 2012 to May 2013 on 110 infertile women who reported to Gynae OPD(Out-Patient Department) in Border Guard Hospital, Dhaka. Blood samples of the subjects were taken on 2nd day of menstruation of regular menstrual cycle and on first visit of women having irregular menstrual cycle. Different hormonal studies were done by IMMULITE immunoassay. Semen analyses of their husbands were found to be normal. The results obtained were compared with the reference levels. Results: Among 110 infertile women, 86.37% cases were of primary infertility and 13.63% were 34 JAFMC Bangladesh. Vol 10, No 1 (June) 2014 of secondary infertility. In this study on infertile women majority (34.54%) of the cases of infertility were having PCODs(Polycystic Ovary Disease), others were of hypothyroidism (23.6%) and hyperprolactinaemia was found in 19.09% cases. Both PCODs and hypothyroidism were found in 6.36% cases and no abnormality was detected in 16.36% cases. The Mean ± SD of different hormonal levels were: FSH 2.58±1.63, LH 10.20±4.36, prolactin 61.17±1158 and testosterone 140±34.22 respectively. The mean ± SD of measured hormone levels were compared with reference levels of different hormones by using student t test. In case of FSH, LH, TSH, prolactin, testosterone, FT4 and Oestradiol the difference were statistically significant (P<0.01) but for FT3 was not statistically significant. Conclusion: In this study, PCOD was found to be the most common cause of infertility and other causes found were hyperprolactinaemia and hypothyroidism. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jafmc.v10i1.22902 Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.10(1) 2014

This updated issue of the professional publication Bulletin of the Slovenian Armed Forces is dedicated to the question of the Slovenian commitment to finding peaceful solutions to conflicts. As Commander­in­Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Slovenia, I find this subject not only necessary but also entirely essential. There are many reasons for this. The historical experience of the Slovenian people has not always been pleasant regarding the preservation of national identity, manifested in the language as well as in the cultural and national tradition. Despite different repressive and denationalising measures taken by many foreign authorities, our ancestors managed to preserve the Slovenian nation through much wisdom, deep national awareness and political skill. The importance of consistent compliance with the provisions of international law in crisis situations, including wars, was seen in 1991. Slovenia won the war, not only in a military sense but also by complying with all legal norms, thus soon becoming recognised as a young European democratic country founded on high legal and moral principles. The lessons of war in 1991 increased the resolve of the Slovenian people for clear rejection of the use of force in finding solutions to any kind of conflict. For this reason, my pleasure at being invited to write about the topic of Slovenian people in the service of peace is that much greater, in part also due to the fact that I spent a large part of my professional life, from 1992 to 2005, working in the United Nations, first as the ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia, later as UN Assistant Secretary­General. In both functions I dealt with peacekeeping operations to a considerable extent. United Nations peacekeeping operations were in full swing at that time and underwent great development on the one hand, but also bitter disappointment and moments of deep doubt on the other. However, they continued to develop to the current extent. The topic of the Bulletin is presented in truly deep, scientific, theoretical and practical ways, from strategic and tactical levels, considering the evolutionary and transformational characteristics of peacekeeping operations, and deriving from historical experience. The most respected authors in the Slovenian professional field have thrown light upon important conceptual changes in the area of peacekeeping operations, which result from numerous factors, in particular from important geopolitical changes in the world. We must not disregard the increasing cooperation of regional organisations in the implementation of peacekeeping operations, which has indirectly brought about a different understanding of the term “peacekeeping operation” and opened technical discussions in the area of terminology as well as in the technical fulfilment of obligations, all the way to the question of the necessity of a preliminary UN mandate. These deficiencies can also be seen in Slovenia and point to the need for conducting a deep technical discussion as soon as possible and unifying the understanding of both the structure of the Slovenian Armed Forces and the broader defence and security system. The introductory and in particular the more theoretical parts of the Bulletin may be taken as important contributions in this regard. Some of the articles offer interesting historical insight into the cooperation of Slovenian men, and later women, in various endeavours for peace launched by individual great powers and international organisations. Although it is difficult to understand the military intervention of European forces on the island Crete in 1897 as a peacekeeping operation, the objective which is still in the forefront of contemporary efforts of the international community in this area was achieved for at least some time. This intervention ensured an armistice between the parties involved in the conflict and enabled a diplomatic solution on the island without unnecessary victims. The confidence that the highest political and military authorities in the Austro­Hungarian Empire had in the 2nd Battalion of the 87th Infantry Regiment from Celje was truly special. This was particularly the case because the military unit was mainly composed of Slovenes, and at the time of deployment in Crete its commander was a Slovene as well. However, we need to emphasise that such thinking is unconventional. By studying the literature on peacekeeping operations we see that such operations were first mentioned around 1919 in connection with peace conferences after the end of World War I and with managing various border issues in Europe, different plebiscites and other situations which, besides political and other diplomatic action, also required the protection of security and were followed by military operations intended for this particular purpose. History tells us much about peacekeeping operations intended to maintain truces. In these operations, coalition forces were deployed to an area in which a truce already existed and had to be maintained among well organised and disciplined armed forces. Today, the status of armed forces is quite different. We have to look at all of history and every aspect of international military engagement which is not armed combat by nature but a military presence with various aspects of employment of military force and the constant readiness and capability of peace forces to defend themselves effectively and be prepared to use weapons to fulfil their mandate. If today we see peacekeeping operations as valid in this respect, it is clear that we have to be familiar with history and evaluate what we can learn from past experience and how we are obliged to consider the present. Of course, we must consider the present. If we look at the status of peacekeeping operations today, we see how important this military activity is for the modern world. I will only dwell upon the United Nations, which from the standpoint of peacekeeping operations is the most important organisation operating today. Approximately 140,000 soldiers participate in peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations. No other military force has that number of uniformed personnel operating abroad. These people are assigned to eighteen currently active peacekeeping operations, each costing the organisation about seven billion dollars. This is the largest component of the budget of the United Nations. However, this expenditure is small in comparison to other kinds of military deployment outside the UN, to operations which are not peacekeeping operations by nature. Peacekeeping operations have become very multidimensional. The latest such operations, established in Africa (Darfur, Chad, Central African Republic), have been among the most demanding from the very beginning. We can thus conclude that peacekeeping operations are becoming increasingly more complex, which also results in a higher degree of risk. In 2007, 67 members of UN peacekeeping operations lost their lives. Looking at individual operations we see that six people died in Lebanon alone that year. Ever since peacekeeping operations have been in existence, Lebanon has been one of the most dangerous areas. Today, however, it is somewhat outside the sphere of interest. This may be due to the fact that there is a peacekeeping operation active in the area, on account of which a state of relative peace can be better maintained. Peacekeeping operations are both dangerous and multidimensional, multidimensional because they are no longer focused merely on keeping belligerent parties apart. Modern peacekeeping operations include both standard and supplemental functions. Providing a secure environment for political normalisation, humanitarian activity and development is a comprehensive task, requiring the engagement of peacekeeping forces in operations that are far from being common types of military deployment. This raises different questions about the training and competence of peacekeeping forces. We also have to ask ourselves how we can fully consider the lessons learned from previous peacekeeping operations and organise a system of command, particularly in organisations such as the United Nations, while at the same time making sure that national contingents do not lose their identity. There are thus two lines of communication, one through channels established by international organisations and the other through those established by national systems of armed forces. How to balance this and achieve efficient functioning? How to ensure the operation of different cultures, members and levels of competence in a way that facilitates the success of peacekeeping operations? These are always important questions to consider. In recent years the question of interest has pointed to the complexity of modern peacekeeping operations. Peacekeeping operations are frequently required to facilitate an environment in which elections can be conducted and assist in the establishment of a legal order and institutions to maintain that order. Both tasks are extremely demanding. The establishment of a safe environment for conducting elections in a country with poor communications, with no tradition of elections and with violence linked to every political event, is an extremely difficult task. The establishment of a legal order in areas with no such tradition or adequate infrastructure is even harder. There is often a need to include the civilian police, whose tasks in peacekeeping operations are very demanding. Civilian police have a number of other particularities besides problems connected to the aforementioned multidimensionality. It is necessary to adapt to the local environment in order to facilitate effective police performance. How to facilitate this in an environment such as Haiti, for example, with its difficult past? How to facilitate this in linguistically demanding environments such as East Timor until recently and in other difficult circumstances? These are all extremely demanding tasks. However, there is not much understanding with regard to all the details and problems arising from their implementation. The international political community is often satisfied merely by defining the mandate of a peacekeeping operation. For many people this signifies the solution to the problem, considering that the mandate is defined and that the deployment of forces will occur. However, this is where real problem solving only begins. Only then does it become obvious what little meaning general resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and other acts by which mandates are defined have in the context of actual situations. Therefore, I am of the opinion that we have to take a detailed look at experience from the distant past as well as the present. When speaking of the civilian police we also have to consider the fully human aspects that characterise every peacekeeping operation. Once I spoke to a very experienced leader of civilian police operations about the need to send additional police officers to the mission in Kosovo in the spring, when winter is over and people become more active, which also results in a higher crime rate. He explained that this is not only a problem in the area of this mission but elsewhere in Europe. In spring, the crime rate rises everywhere. Therefore it is difficult to find police officers during this time who are willing to leave their homeland, where they are most needed, and go to a mission area which is just then facing increased needs. I mention this to broaden understanding of the fact that the deployment of peacekeeping forces, both military and civilian police, is not only a matter of mandates and military organisation, but sometimes of the purely elementary questions that accompany social development. I have already mentioned that memory of the past is a very important component of considering present peacekeeping operations. I would like to conclude with another thought. I believe the manner of organising the knowledge of peacekeeping operations is of great importance to all countries, especially those that are new to cooperating in peacekeeping operations. This knowledge cannot be gained from books written at universities, but only from monitoring and carefully analysing the previous experiences of others. It is very important that this knowledge be carefully organised, that these experiences be carefully gathered and analysed, and that a doctrine be developed gradually. This doctrine is required for a country like Slovenia, which is new at conducting peacekeeping operations, to be able to manage well and define its role in international peacekeeping operations properly. To achieve this objective, a new country must cooperate with those countries which have been conducting peacekeeping operations for a long time and therefore have a richer experience. The neighbouring Austria is known to have one of the longest and most interesting systems of experience in peacekeeping operations within the United Nations. Ever since it joined the UN, Austria has been active in numerous activities linked to peacekeeping operations. Its soldiers and the civilian police have participated in a number of peacekeeping operations. Experience gained in this way is of great value, and using this experience is necessary for successful planning of and operating in future peacekeeping operations. The future will be complicated! At one time, when the members of peacekeeping operations numbered approximately 80,000, the United Nations thought that nothing more could be done, and a larger number of members was unthinkable. Today the number of members is significantly larger, development will most likely still continue and conditions will become even more demanding. I do not wish to forecast events which have not yet taken place. However, I would like to strongly emphasise that the history of peacekeeping operations is not over yet and that the future will be full of risks and challenges. I would also again like to stress the importance of this issue of the Bulletin of the Slovenian Armed Forces, which is entering a new decade, and express my pleasure at being able to note down a few thoughts. Let me particularly emphasise that as Commander­in­Chief of the Slovenian Defence Forces I will continue to devote special attention to achievements in the area of cooperation in peacekeeping operations in the future, having a special interest in these experiences. I thank the authors of the articles of this important issue of the Bulletin for their scientific and professional contributions – and I greatly respect those who have already done important work in the name of the Republic of Slovenia with the Slovenian flag on their shoulders, with the hope that they continue to fulfil their obligations in accordance with the rules.

Britain's “long” eighteenth century, which began with one aristocratic revolution in 1688 and ended with another in 1832, was a pageant of success. The nation's art and architecture reached their elegant and original best. Its capital became the center of print culture, finance, fashion, and commercial creativity, the largest and most vibrant city in the Western world. The British constitution became a topic for eulogy, as much by the unenlightened and illiterate at home as by the Enlightenment literati abroad. The armed forces, fiscal system, and bureaucracy of the British state grew in efficacy and range, bringing victory in all but one of a succession of major wars. Legitimized by achievement and buttressed by massive economic and political power, Britain's landed elite kept at bay every domestic revolution except the industrial one, which only enriched it more. The American Revolution, of course, was not averted; but while this crisis embarrassed the British Empire, it did not destroy it. Even before 1776, the conquest of Canada had reduced the thirteen colonies' strategic significance, just as their profitability to the mother country had been outstripped by its Indian possessions; their final loss was made up, and more than made up, with relentless and almost contemptuous speed. Between 1780 and 1820 some 150 million men and women in India, Africa, the West Indies, Java, and the China coast succumbed to British naval power and trading imperatives.

The aim of the article is to show the way of adaptation of the military potential of the Crown to the Tatar threat, which first emerged in 1468. In connection with the particular geopolitical situation we present the dissimilarity of military reforms from those in Western Europe. In order to prevent Tatar raids, a standing frontier army (obrona potoczna or Permanent Defense) was formed. In the 1520s, an innovative strategy was developed which involved creating two defense lines with a very deep reconnaissance, 500 kilometers east of Lviv, already on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The consequence of applying the new model of defense was a new type of armed forces developed approximately two decades later, the cossack cavalry. The article presents a phenomenon of the creation a unified, in terms of weaponry, light cavalry, the process of which took place in the 1540s and 50s. Earlier the troops had consisted of soldiers differently equipped and armored and using various horses. Out of this chaos there emerged more unified units, which was the result of experiences of south-east borderline defense. The article emphasizes it was neither commanders-in-chief nor political and governmental factors that played a key role in the tactical innovation was mid-level commanders (starosts, rotmistrzes). It was their experiments with different types of arms that brought about a revolution in the rearmament and uniformity of the cavalry. The paper indicates that the main originator of the transformations was the starost of Bar and Trembowla Bernard Pretwicz. A clear influence of political decisions and strategic concepts on the final transformations in the warfare tactics should be noted.

When discussing this most important and timely issue, before anythingelse and beyond all current passions and prejudices, one must pause and askwhat we mean by the two terms Islam and the West. Which Islam andwhich West are we considering? Is it traditional Islam as practiced by themajority of Muslims, the Islam of pious men and women who seek to livein the light of God‘s teachings as revealed in the Qur’an and in surrender toHis will? Or is it modernist interpretations that seek to interpret the Islamictradition in view of currently prevalent Western ideas and fashions ofthought? Or yet, is it the extreme forms of politically active Islam that, inexasperation, before dominance by non-Islamic forces both outside andinside the borders of most Islamic countries, takes recourse in ideas andmethods of certain strands of recent Western political history, including, insome cases, terrorism, which is against Islamic law and which was notinvented by them?Nor is the reality of the West in any way homogeneous. In fact, practicallythe only political unity observed in the West these days appears inits hatred of Islam, as shown in the case of Bosnia and Chechnya, whereone has observed, with very few exceptions, the uniformity of silence,indifference, and inaction by various voices in the West in the face of theworst kind of human atrocities. Otherwise, the opposition of forces anddiversity of what is usually called the West is so blatant as to hardly needmention. But since it is ignored in many quarters that speak of global orderbased on what they call Western values, it must be asked if the West ischaracterized by Trappist and Carthusian monks or European andAmerican agnostic or atheistic “intellectuals” on university campuses or inthe media. One wonders if the Westerners are those who still make pilgrimageto hurdes in the thousands, or those who journey, also in thethousands, to Las Vegas or the birthplace of Elvis Presley. This diversityand even confrontation within the West is of the greatest importance notonly for those in Europe and the United States who speak of confrontationwith the Islamic world on the basis of the idea that there is an at least relativelyunified West, but also for the Muslims, at least some of whom arein general fully aware of deep divisions not likely to be integrated intounity soon but which are in fact on the verge of creating disorder and chaoswithin the very fabric of Western societies ...