Journal of Interdiscplinary Research on War and Peace

Volume III, Issue 1 (5), January-June 2000

Contents

Davor Marijan

FIGHTS FOR KUPRES IN APRIL 1992.

This paper represents an attempt to shed light on one of the first fights in the war for Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was the first serious strife between Croatian and Serbian army from Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is chiefly based on Yugoslav national army documents, or, the army of Rebublika Srpska. Croatian sources were not found. The fights were caused by lack of political agreement on the future on Kupres. The conflict, which had been going on for a week, ended in absolute failure of Croatians and their banishing, and running away of Croatian and Muslim civil population from Kupres plateau. The reason for this failure of Croatian army, besides bad leadership and commanding, was technical inferiority in comparison to Serbian army. Using the armoured battalion of Knin's corps ended the fights. The Serbian part demonstrated in this conflict everything that would later be the characteristic of its battle actions, such as ethnic cleansing of non-Serbian population, destruction of housing and religious facilities etc. It demonstrated also the reasons for their success- superiority in resources and technology over the adversary.

Ivo Paić

THE PRINCIPLES OF WARFARE: THE ASPECTS OF TRANSFORMATION AND BECOMING DATED

The problem of this research is an unovercome belief that despite the changes of the reality of war and warfare, stable relation between principles and that changeable reality still prevails. The main question is whether that belief is an indicator of principles and inappropriateness of these structures for demands of the changed "image of war" becoming dated, so that some parts of it's content belong to history. Two ways of looking on the understanding aspects of becoming dated have been pointed out. One of them opens with radical penetration of time into principles:"competing in time" becomes central notion in the manoeuvring warfare. The author extends that notion to the entirety of war reality. He demonstrates that structures of principles enter the circle of competition in pace (by repeatedly coming across evaluation, orientation, deciding and acting processes), undergo changes and become outdated (exemplarily:"manoeuvre"). The other perspective deals with the problems and the consequences of unclear boundaries of phenomena, which are covered by doctrines dealing with low intensity conflicts (semantic spheres, semantic fields). It also deals with transformations of principles and their becoming dated by infusing the military logic into political grammar, especially in the strategies of forcing the other side to avoid conflict, to stop it, to return to the original state etc. In the sequence of exposition the author describes the outlines of reversing hierarchy, principle connections, the meaning of "to be faster" in the circle of competition and in transformational logic (the modification of "Boyd's circle"), the principle "destruction" as a relict, warfare without the "essence of war", "War" as master signifier and an empty space, principles which take over (until destruction) areas unfamiliar to them; redirecting of LIC; towards the end he explains the basic problems concerning the relation Nuclear bomb - Virtual war - LIC in order to show conditions of "allowed" conflict area.

Boris Švel

POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE CROATIAN NAVY FLEET BETWEEN THE YEARS 2000 AND 2015

The paper introduces a survey of the models of maritime defence of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea in recent history, an estimate of the present condition of the Croatian navy and projection of its possible development in future. The author's starting point is the presumption that, taking into consideration present structure and the age of vessels, the Croatian navy is inadequate for future tasks of successful deterrence, participation in international operations as well as protection of national interests in peacetime. Using the experience of countries like Finland and Israel as the starting point, along with world tendencies in development of fleets of small countries, in paper are being studied possible types of medium-term development of the Croatian navy along with the development of traditionally structured or modular fleet and their advantages and disadvantages, taking into account Croatian needs and capacity as well as possible participation in transnational defence organizations. The ideas set forth in the text are of informal nature and do not represent complete and definite solutions, but only some of the possible directions of further development. In putting together this proposal the author laid emphasis on Fleet. I.e. war ships and submarines as well as air component. The questions concerning the structure of the Croatian navy in general, the forces of the Coastal Service of Observation and Informing, Coast artillery and naval infantry, as well as the education and land infrastructure haven’t been dealt with in this paper.

Robert Barić

MILITARY DOCTRINE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Military doctrine of the Russian Federation, published in November 1993, was the first step in Russian Federation's adaptation to her new post Cold War position: as the main threat to Russian Federation security, the doctrine considers local conflicts rather than possibility of great nuclear/conventional conflict with the USA and NATO. Also, the military doctrine represents one of two key sources for defining Russia's national interests - in the doctrine are included theses which will be elaborated in the National Security Concept of the Russian Federation published at the end of 1997, and new version of this document from January 2000.
On the other hand, the military doctrine and the concept of national security of the Russian Federation are controversal concerning the question of nuclear weapon use. Both documents (together with recently published blueprint of new military doctrine) stated possibility of repelling conventional military attack with nuclear weapons (and even possibility of preventive first nuclear strike), which represents dangerous transformation of nuclear weapons from status of strategic deterrent weapons to weapon systems intended for operational and tactical use on the battlefield. This transformation is primary caused by combat capabilities degradation of conventional component of the Russian Armed Forces. But with the beginning of NATO enlargement, deployment of new generation of tactical nuclear weapons could be Russian answer to NATO expansion.

Lidija Kos-Stanišić

MILITARY COMPONENTS OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

The central concept of American international political analysis is political power i.e. it's capability of accomplishing aims, which are, however, specified on the basis of US national interest. The author analyses the use of military means - the main instrument of American global influence and interventionism; determinants which influence the creation of American foreign policy and the use of military force and finds periods in history of the United States of America when military force had been used, more or less, as the instrument of American foreign policy. The USA tends to take their own interests for the interests of the global community and, as the author concludes, the USA will continue to use even in the 21st century threats and force of arms as means of accomplishing their international political aims.