The end of the Cold War significantly influenced the modern security environment, changing the conditions and the way of thinking about military involvement. Since the end of the 1990s, we have been observing a constantly expanding catalogue of tasks of the armed forces, including not only preparation for and conducting activities in traditional interstate conflicts, but also peacekeeping and stabilisation operations of various dynamics and intensity, participation in hybrid conflicts and suppression of rebel activity, dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters, providing humanitarian aid or activities related to counteracting the spread of a pandemic. In analysing this phenomenon, the concept of ambidexterity, understood as the ability to simultaneously perform contradictory tasks and reconcile contradictory requirements, becomes particularly useful.
KBN Analysis no. 15 (79) / 2020
3 December 2020
The end of the Cold War significantly influenced the modern security environment, changing the conditions and the way of thinking about military involvement. Since the end of the 1990s, we have been observing a constantly expanding catalogue of tasks of the armed forces, including not only preparation for and conducting activities in traditional interstate conflicts, but also peacekeeping and stabilisation operations of various dynamics and intensity, participation in hybrid conflicts and suppression of rebel activity, dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters, providing humanitarian aid or activities related to counteracting the spread of a pandemic. In analysing this phenomenon, the concept of ambidexterity, understood as the ability to simultaneously perform contradictory tasks and reconcile contradictory requirements, becomes particularly useful.
Photo credit: DocChewbacca, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://www.flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/2949383137/