Strategic deterrence: The key competences of the state bodies of the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

In the post-Cold War period, contemporary studies of strategic deterrence have expanded from traditional ones to contents that are much broader in terms of content and topics. It can be said that today this is the comprehensive activity that should engage the entire society, proclaiming the concept of the whole power. Providing the systematic implementation of the principle of comprehensiveness, together with the principle of knowledge-worthiness and timeliness, certainly represents a key prerequisite for effective deterrence in modern conditions. Military power certainly represents a fundamental capability for deterrence in the context of support to foreign policy, diplomatic efforts and economic cooperation with foreign countries, as well as in terms of psychological and informational resistance. Another great problem is which state authority to entrust with the implementation of strategic deterrence. It seems most acceptable for the National Security Council to assume the responsibility for the implementation of strategic deterrence, with the necessary organizational and functional changes in terms of recruiting personnel for the Council. The paper deals with the problem how to distribute the competences of state authorities in the implementation of deterrence. We believe that this paper has offered quite enough arguments that it is necessary to legally regulate this field in a manner that it changes the basic assumptions of the competences of state authorities to the least possible extent. It is clear that this is a conceptual model that requires further elaboration and concretization, but it can serve as a starting point for further research.

Keywords

• strategic deterrence
• national security system
• competences of institutions
• preventive action