Due to the rapidly changing geopolitical situation of our country, including the neighbourhood with a country in which a full-scale armed conflict is taking place, safety is increasingly discussed in public debate. National safety must now be understood very widely – it includes not only the defence of the country, but besides the creation of conditions for economic, cultural and another areas of State activity. It is an existential request and inalienable national value and the intent of the action of state, local, social and another authorities. Citizens proceed to anticipate from the state multi-faceted safety and improvement opportunities, understood as good education, wellness protection, the proliferation of the achievements of the present and future generations. It is the work of the State to meet these expectations and give them appropriate priorities. It should be remembered that safety is simply a process, not a permanent state, and should be subject to frequent analysis to improve it.
National safety must now be understood very widely – it includes not only the defence of the country, but besides the creation of conditions for economic, cultural and another areas of State activity. It is an existential request and inalienable national value and the intent of the action of state, local and social authorities.
Threats are besides constantly changing. The rule is simple: the higher the level of danger, the lower the level of safety. Today, the level of threats of various types, including military ones, is highly high. From a European perspective, safety covers six areas: military, economic, energy, environmental, social and information. Modern threats do not have clearly defined boundaries and are characterized by hybridity. In the current crisis, the conflict can be subliminal for a long time and only at the end of the conventional war.
Resistance to military crises is linked to the assessment of the risks in this area and the military safety of the state. An essential danger for Poland is the imperial politics and expansion of the Russian Federation internationally. The aggression against Ukraine has caused the global community to measure more unequivocally and negatively all actions both hybrid and below the war threshold. This is good information for Poland, which is under constant force from the east neighbour. The foundations of our military safety are:
- State defense, including a military strategy capable of effectively deterring an aggressor. The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland must be well equipped, have adequate logistical resources, adequate numbered and trained individual condition and prepared reserves;
- Membership of the NATO Alliance, along with most of our neighbours, which fundamentally increases our security. The anticipation of overtaking the deployment of appropriate allied troops in our territory is simply a credible deterrent force;
- Membership of the European Union and active participation in its defence and safety policy, which allows to keep a advanced level in the alleged civilian safety spheres, but besides promotes the improvement of the national defence industry. It besides allows for the planning of effective "supply chains" during the crisis and war;
- the strategical partnership with the United States, which allows the acquisition of modern equipment for the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, allows the permanent presence of US troops on the "Eastern flank" of the Alliance and is an essential component of the deterrence of the aggressor;
- to search to preserve and strengthen Ukraine's sovereignty, preventing the reconstruction of Russia's imperial capabilities. It is an crucial interest of both Poland and Europe.
The foundations of Poland's military safety are: well-equipped and trained Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, membership of the NATO Alliance, membership of the European Union, strategical partnership with the United States and the drive to preserve and strengthen Ukrainian sovereignty.
Based on the above-mentioned foundations, military safety of Poland (national defence) includes effective usage of this potential, simplification of military threats, adequate consequence and appropriate response.
Security shaping is the task of a strategy, i.e. the explanation and practice introduced by the main decision-maker, including the setting of safety objectives and ways to accomplish them. We include: diplomacy (public and private), information possible (public and private, public and private), armed forces, economical possible (state and private)1.
From the point of view of the foundations of military safety and safety strategy, multi-centredness is added value and is well correlated with the military rule of ‘centralisation’ which is present in all military activity. Centrifugaling allows you to reduce losses, forces your opponent to disperse effort and mask future movements (re-centering effort). There is simply a regulation here that reads: “Do not put all eggs in 1 basket” or – more military – “we march separately and we hit together”. The distributed industrial, scientific, demographic, etc. possible is indicated for enhancing defence capacity and its effective use. It is peculiarly useful to disperse the economical and demographic potential, due to the fact that this allows it to be distributed closer to the centrifugal troops. The arm of method supplies and the transportation of individual states will be shorter, which means lower costs and shorter vulnerability to the influence of the opponent, i.e. greater probability of reaching the right place at a given time. The steady improvement of the country increases the access of all soldiers and their families to science, resources, jobs, which promotes the acceptance of military service requirements.
Multi-centredness is added value and is well correlated with the military rule of “centralisation” which allows to reduce losses, forces the opponent to disperse effort and mask future maneuvers. The centred industrial, scientific, demographic possible is indicated for enhancing defence capacity and its effective use.
The geographical and economical conditions of Poland play an crucial function in correct assessment of the importance of multi-centering to guarantee resilience to military crises. The physical, spatial and socio-economic conditions that form interior conditions for State safety can be described as follows:
- the territory of the country – it has a spatial form of the circle, which is beneficial to the defence and management of the state. The east and western borders are open and run through Europe's geographical axis, making it hard and demanding to control the movement of people and goods. The east border is besides the NATO and EU border;
- Population – classifys Poland in a group of medium-sized European countries, while natural growth is very low (men aged 18-49 live in our country only 8 million);
- physical and geographical conditions – short, simple rivers, with mild banks, moving in 1 direction, which pose a flood risk. The road network, compared to Europe, inactive needs to be expanded (80km/100km2). Bridges that request reinforcement can be utilized to transport troops;
- afforestation (approximately 33% of the territory) allows the usage of its protective and masking capabilities;
- agriculture – well developed – protects food self-sufficiency;
- energy resources – do not safeguard self-sufficiency and thus energy security;
- Defence manufacture – does not defend needs.
This incomplete calculation of the conditions shows that the tasks to be carried out in the area of preparation for a possible military conflict are many and are widely dispersed. The multifacetedness of the mission forces the engagement of many actors, with large, regional and local competences.
1 DIME: diplomacy, information, military, Economics.
