THE MILITARY INSTRUMENT OF POWER IN THE 21ST CENTURY – THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE MILITARY STRATEGY OF THE STATES IN THE WIDER BLACK SEA REGION –

Abstract

A nation’s power to impose its will and to achieve its national objectives emanates from its instruments of national power. Today, the instruments of national power include diplomacy, information, military, and economy, collectively identified by the acronym DIME. A nation does not necessarily have to be superior in each element of the DIME to achieve its national goals and interests. However, it has to be adept in managing each element of national power synergistically in order to achieve its desired results. The military element of national power represents the military might of a nation. Referred to as a “hard power” due to its kinetic nature, the military component of DIME might appear to be a measure of last resort. This is not always the case, however, as the credible threat of hard power alone in combination with other elements of DIME (sometimes known as “smart power”) can often allow a nation to achieve its interests. The armed conflict in Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea, the changes in the relations between major global and regional actors, the persistence of frozen conflicts in the Republic of Moldova and Georgia and the difficult path of state consolidation and economic development in some of the Black Sea states – all require a much greater attention of the international community to the region, which changes almost everything about using the instruments of power and of course the strategy regarding the Black Sea region.