Use of the SWOT Analysis in the Field of National Security Planning

The authors propose to improve the methodology of operational and service activities planning based on the methodology of defense planning within the national security system on the basis of opportunities. The capability-based planning will allow for better planning of operational and service activities of the border agency and will ensure active cooperation between Ukraine and NATO in order to achieve the criteria necessary for full membership in the Alliance. A defense survey is conducted to assess the state and readiness of the defense forces to perform tasks related to the defense of Ukraine, the state of their personnel, financial, logistical and other types of support in the current and projected conditions of the security environment. The survey of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine was conducted using an analytical method, namely the analysis of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT-analysis), which allows substantiating the main directions of the Development Strategy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and increasing the level of operational and service activities planning within the system of national security. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine is a component of the security and defense sector and the new conditions the border agency operates in arise the issue on improving the methodology of planning its operational and service activities. Doi: 10.28991/esj-2021-01280 Full Text: PDF

The analysis of the events of recent years has changed the conditions of the SBGSU operation, which has led to the improvement of the existing methods and approaches to the planning of operational and service activities and further development (reform) of the agency.
Capability-based planning in the SBGSU is one of the promising methods of planning in the field of state border security, the peculiarity of which is the elaboration of forces opportunities to effectively counter threats and risks of both military and non-military nature, taking into account probable scenarios of conflict (crisis) situations development on a long-term horizon. This method of planning is the main one in NATO member countries.  and Horbulin et al. (2017) the scientific works revealed the research on the activities of organization and planning of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to asthe Armed Forces) and other components of the security and defense sector concerning the development of security and defense forces opportunities [1,2]. Kosevtsov et al. (2020) and Bondarenko et al. (2021) investigated capability-based strategic planning in terms of results-oriented management approaches [3,4]. The current state and further development of the defense planning system in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is described by the Malyshevet al. (2020) [5]. The monograph [6], devoted to defense management, outlines the latest approaches to the implementation of a systematic approach to defense management in the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other defense forces with the aim to improve defense reform and approximate NATO standards. Accordingly, the topical issue of implementing the capability-based planning process in the SBGSU is left in abeyance.

2-Materials and Methods
Planning is the main function of management, which combines all managerial functions. An organization cannot clearly define its goals and activities without planning. This type of management activity determines the prospects and future state of the organization, ways and means to achieve them [7].The planning process helps to make informed management decisions. Its purpose is to determine the required amount of resources, opportunities to adequately respond to change on situations [8].
Defense planning is an integral part of the system of state strategic planning, carried out to ensure the defense opportunities of the state by determining the priorities and directions of defense forces development, their opportunities, armaments and military equipment, infrastructure, training of troops (forces), and the formulation of relevant concepts, programs and plans taking into account the real potential threats in the military sphere as well as the financial and economic opportunities of the state. The initial stage of planning the operational and service activities of the SBGSU is a survey of its opportunities (survey of its state) [9,10]. The objective of the SBGSU opportunities survey is to determine (specify) the lists of available and required opportunities, to form a list of critical opportunities for further development (specification, amendments to) the Unified List (Catalogue) of the Defense Forces opportunities (hereinafter referred to asthe Defense Forces Opportunities Catalogue) and Functional Opportunities Groups determining the division of responsibilities for their maintenance and development planning [11]. The following methods and tools of strategic analysis are used in order to support the process of forming proposals for management decisions making: The result of the opportunities survey is the development of the Defense Forces Opportunities Catalogue and Functional Opportunities Groups determining the division of responsibilities for their maintenance and development planning. The results of the opportunities survey are further used during the defense survey, as well as for the development of draft strategies, concepts, government programs and other strategic documents that define the main directions and objectives of the state defense policy [12]. Figure 1 below shows the procedure for processing the paper.

3-Results and Discussion
The SBGSU is a component of the security and defense sector and a demand was created to conduct a survey of the situation based on the methodology of analysis of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOTanalysis) with the change of conditions and further development.
The procedure in SWOT is to segregate the available information about the case into four groups (categories of strategic factors): S stands for strengths: everything that is the advantages, positive characteristics of the analysed object; W stands for weaknesses: everything that is characterised by fragility, obstacles, defects of the analysed object; O stands for opportunities: everything that creates the chance for useful changes in terms of the analysed object; T stands for threats: everything that creates the danger of useless changes in regard to the analysed object.
The strengths and weaknesses of the SBGSU in the conditions of daily activities, in the conditions of complicating the situation and in war-time conditions, as well as opportunities and threats in certain conditions are analysed.
The initial data are the existing legal framework, scenarios and situations of development of the military-political situation, functions and responsibilities. The purpose of the assessment is to determine the directions of further development of the SBGSU.
The importance of strengths (Table 1) and weaknesses, as well as opportunities (Table 2) and threats (Table 3) was determined by expert assessment method. The importance is defined from 1 to 10, where 1 is the least important, 10 is the most important value. 2. Monitoring the surface situation, especially in the vicinity of the kerch strait, and the situation around the arrival of foreign vessels into the closed ports of ukraine on the temporary occupied territory of the arc, covering road steads of the ukrainian ports and the sea coast from possible landing of enemy sabotage groups; 3. Reorganization of combat reserve units (rapid response border commands, mobile border outposts) and bringing their structure to a single model, the use of the sbgsu special action personnel to strengthen the protection of the state border in the active directions of illegal activities; 4. Improving the system of detecting terrorist threats to national security on the state border of ukraine by obtaining advance information on separate individuals, groups and organizations whose actions are aimed at preparing and committing terrorist acts, as well as attempts to use illegal migration channels by international terrorist organizations;  Opportunities: 1. To take measures to end armed conflicts and provocations on the state border of Ukraine in cooperation with representatives of the National Guard; 2. To take measures to prevent the mass crossing of the state border of Ukraine from the territory of neighbouring states together with other law enforcement agencies; 3. To carry out operational measures to identify and eliminate channels of illegal migration in cooperation with representatives of law enforcement agencies of other countries; 4. To create an integrated system of surveillance throughout the state border of Ukraine on the basis of innovative engineering solutions in order to ensure adequate response to existing and potential threats to national security in accordance with the standards of the European Union and NATO; 5. To take measures to identify and detain persons involved in illegal activities within the competence of the SBGSU in cooperation with representatives of law enforcement agencies of other states; 6. To continue intensification of international cooperation with law enforcement agencies and organizations such as Interpol, Europol, Eurojust; 7. To carry out joint preventive measures and special border operations on the state border of Ukraine; 8. To repel an invasion or attack on the territory of Ukraine by the armed forces of other states or groups of states together with cooperating bodies; 9. To provide the ability for coordinated activities of military formations and relevant law enforcement agencies related to surveillance of the state border of Ukraine and access to and from the temporarily occupied territory, as well as the activities of state bodies exercising various types of control when crossing the state border of Ukraine and access to and from the temporarily occupied territory or participate in ensuring the regime of the state border, border regime and regime at the border crossing points across the state border of Ukraine and at the entry-exit checkpoints; 10. To strengthen the coordination activities of the SBGSU within the system of integrated border management. 10. Imperfection of the Regulatory and Legal Framework in the Field of Border Security.

The Next
Step Is to Determine the Importance of Strengths and Opportunities ( Table 4), As Well As Strengths And Threats (Table 5).  The generalized data of strengths and weaknesses of the SBGSU in the conditions of daily activities, in the conditions of complication of the situation and in war-time conditions, opportunities and threats are reflected in Table  6.

4-Conclusion
Thus, the analysis identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the border agency, opportunities and threats in the daily activities, in the conditions of the situation complication and in war-time conditions, which can further be used in the development of strategic documents, namely the Development Strategy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. The existing legal framework, scenarios and situations of development of the military-political situation, functions and responsibilities of the border agency make the output information. The importance of the main parameters was determined by the method of expert assessment and the directions of further development of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine to ensure the effective use of the border agency in a fundamentally new environment in the conditions of daily activities, in the conditions of complication of the situation and in war-time conditions, opportunities and threats were substantiated with the help of SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis is an adequate method for strategic analysis, which allows to determine the directions of development of units and subdivisions of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and substantiation of their tasks, and can be used to assess the state of similar structures and organizations during planning processes.

5-2-Data Availability Statement
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

5-3-Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

5-4-Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this manuscript. In addition, the ethical issues, including plagiarism, informed consent, misconduct, data fabrication and/or falsification, double publication and/or submission, and redundancies have been completely observed by the authors.