Challenges to national defence in contemporary geopolitical situation

The paper presents the results of a sectoral analysis of the Czech Republic’s security environment and interprets them from the perspective of strategic studies. Its objective is to identify key structural trends shaping the operational and strategic environment and to derive their implications for defence planning, capability development, and the long-term transformation of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The analysis shows that the security environment in last years is characterized by persistent geopolitical instability and accelerating technological change. The rapid diffusion of unmanned systems and artificial intelligence applications is transforming the conduct of warfare and increasing demands for capability modernization, interoperability, and force readiness. At the same time, demographic and societal pressures are deepening, affecting the personnel sustainability of the armed forces and the overall strategic resilience of the state. Economic and environmental factors intensify competition for resources and raise demands for the prioritization of defence investments. The findings confirm the growing interdependence of sectors and the necessity of integrated assessment of the security environment as a foundation for force and capability development.

This paper examines how digital media discourse influences national security and institutional trust using UK-related data (39,760 mentions; reach 255.3 million) collected between November 2025 and April 2026. Applying AI-assisted media analytics, it identifies key risk patterns, including the dominance of negative sentiment, platform-driven amplification, and the transnational circulation of narratives. The findings show how these dynamics generate structural vulnerabilities for democratic institutions and complicate strategic communication. The study proposes a practical analytical framework for monitoring influence operations, enabling earlier detection of coordinated campaigns and supporting faster, evidence-based policy responses in complex digital information environments today.

This study examines the communication of the State Security Department of the Republic of Lithuania and the Second Investigation Department under the Ministry of National Defence in 2012–2022. It identifies the aspects relevant to the strategic communication of the intelligence services, analyses specifics of the texts and tendencies in national threat assessments and activity reports, and examines how these institutions present themselves. The study applies the theory of securitisation and critical discourse analysis. It includes other research related to the topic, practices of foreign intelligence services in publishing annual reports and using the YouTube social media platform, media publications and other sources. The study concludes that strategic communication for intelligence agencies is essential for the long-term success of their operations. By focusing on strategic objectives, they inform and educate the public about themselves and national security and develop a cooperative relationship, contributing to deterrence. Both institutions examined in this study are becoming not only formally more open to the public, but also aim to build and maintain a high institutional reputation, connect with their audience and create an image of professionalism, modern accountability and openness to the public.

Authors of the article focus on the current issues regarding foreign direct investments and their impact on the economic development of Slovak regions. The aim of this article is to draft overview of stage of current development within the economic and investment policy of the Government of the Slovak Republic to meet the needs of regional development. The introduction part presents the theoretical basis described by local and foreign authors reflecting the level of foreign direct investments use including their influence on the economic progress in particular regions emphasised on the development and promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises. Analysis of the government investment policy is carried out in the specification part underlining the significant role of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency. Stated knowledge provide the theoretical framework for the experimental part of the article. Experimental part of the article by the means of numerical statistics and comparison method analyses and evaluates the level of investment support provided to small and medium-sized regional enterprises through projects sustained by the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency within the years 2012 and 2017.Successfully concluded projects concerning the foreign investment aid for the particular Slovak regions are analysed in experimental part, which also quantifies investments based on their contribution to the growth in jobs and provides an overview of the cooperating activities among regions of Slovakia from 2007 to 2017. Contributional outcome of the experimental part of the article is presentation of governmental standards, which are required from regions in order to obtain investment aid while job creation is taken into account. Issued conclusions may inspire further economic operators and authorities responsible in area of social and economic regional development in Slovak republic, regions of other Member States and third countries of Europe as well.

Ensuring the defence of freedom, independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and population belongs to the main tasks of each state. Therefore, countries, in response to the current political, security and economic situation, must earmark, within the framework of their national budgets, a proportion of the available resources to ensure their defence. The aim of the article, based on current trends in the defence budgets of the European Union member states, is point out that not only the global economic and financial crisis and the credit and debt crisis in the euro area have a significant negative impact on the amount of resources, which individual European Union member states earmark to ensure their defence.