Potencjał militarny - pojęcie i metody obliczania

Abstrakt

A military factor is an important instrument in public relations. Considering the power of a State, a military potential is usually assumed as one of its elements. It is power that often determines a course of events among subjects on the arena of international politics. It refers both to world powers, which usually tend to present or use force, and to relationships among small and middle countries. Knowledge on material bases of a conflict, including the possibility of using forces, is a significant factor when making a political decision. Realizing the value of the military potential of the parties in conflict, one may analyze the rationality of the activity they undertake. The article has attempted to answer the question what is meant by “military potential” or if it can be evaluated. Various descriptions of military potential are mentioned here forming a basis to accept own definition of the conception. The conclusion suggests that the military potential should be calculable in respect of quantity and quality. Apart from the ones, there are also found uncountable factors which concern the spheres of psychological, moral and the like activities exerting a strong influence on human behavior shown in extreme situations. The study has analyzed main quantitative and quality factors conditioning the military potential as well as formulas being a base for their calculation .The author focused on the three most significant ones. The first formula estimates military potential being the resultant of the State’s power and determinants of quantitative and quality potentials of an opponent. The other formulas, actually submitted to the first one, tend to calculate the value of a nation force ratio as well as quantitative and quality military potentials.