Security Planning

National defence: what government and the people will do in wartime

The national defence development plan for 2013-2022, approved by the Government of the Republic in January, did not cover the activities of all of the ministries and government institutions involved in national defence. Out of old habit, it focused only on the Ministry of Defence and Defence Forces. The main reason was that government departments are not accustomed to planning activities in an extreme situation (like war). On February 27, 2014 – a year late – the Cabinet approved the non-military part of the national defence development plan for 2013-2022. But the process does not end there; only now does it begin. Preparing the entire government apparatus, local governments and private sector for extreme situations does not require so much additional funding, but rather the ability to coordinate activities with other organizations in a manner that allows each institution to discharge its duties during wartime as well.

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Comprehensive Security and Integrated Defence

The Estonian Government began employing an integrated approach to national defence in 2010. Pursuant to the National Defence Strategy, subsequent steps will include submission for Cabinet approval of the non-military sections of the National Defence Development Plan for 2013-2022. These sections deal in a coordinated manner with both military defence and essential non-military activities. The Ministry of Defence is currently drafting a National Defence Act. The report was commissioned in order to document the current state of implementation of the integrated national defence model.

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Defence Planning: Getting Transparency Right

On 31 July 2013, the International Centre for Defence Studies hosted an event to present an analysis written by two interns: Liz Arnanz and Indrek Kaik. The paper is entitled “Defence Planning: Getting Transparency Right” and it analyses the National Defence Development Plan 2013-2022 (NDDP) approved by the Estonian Government on 24 January 2013. Introduced by event moderator and ICDS deputy director Martin Hurt, the authors presented a theoretical background including academic literature on civil-military relations, military budgeting, and civil society. They concluded that the NDDP is partially inconsistent with these theories, and could be considerably improved by a greater awareness of them.

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Defence Planning: Getting Transparency Right

On 24 January 2013, the Estonian Government approved the National Defence Development Plan 2013-2022 (NDDP), which will guide the Estonian defence planning over the next decade, converting the defence objectives into solid projects. Since the plan was completely devised by the government, with little public input, this has generated a debate on transparency and accountability in defence planning. The present analysis is a constructive critique aimed at bringing defence planning closer to the public.

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