Security in Contemporary World

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The Study Hub


Political Classes
For 12th/CUET/NDA/JKP/JKSSB/SSC/JKAS/UPSC
Security in Contemporary World Marks 06
Traditional concerns of security and politics of disarmament. Non-traditional
or human security: global poverty, health and education. Issues of human
Security
At its most basic, security implies freedom from threats.
However, since life is full of potential threats, not every single one can be
considered a security threat.
If we viewed every minor threat as a security issue, it would overwhelm us
with security concerns.
Experts in security typically focus on threats to 'core values.'
There is often a gap between what governments see as core values and what
ordinary people believe.
Some threats are big, while others are small.
For example, when another country acts in a certain way, it might threaten our
core values.
Similarly, when someone gets robbed, it impacts the everyday security of
regular people.
If we considered all these scenarios as security threats, we would feel
constantly in danger.
Therefore, security is about very serious threats—those that could harm core
values so badly that they would be damaged beyond repair if not addressed.
The security changes over time and varies between different societies.
Throughout history, societies have had different views on what security means.
Even today, with nearly 650 crore people across about 200 countries, it’s
unlikely that everyone has the same understanding of security.
To make sense of these different views, we can group them into traditional and
non-traditional conceptions of security.
Traditional Notions of External Security
Traditional Security Policy
Security often refers to traditional national security, which primarily focuses
on military threats from other countries.
Governments aim to protect core values like sovereignty, independence, and
territorial integrity.

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Threats and Responses The main threats to a country come from other
nations that might use military force.
Governments have three basic responses to these threats:-
Surrender: Although surrender is a possible option, governments typically do
not openly advertise this choice.
Deterrence: This involves making the cost of war unacceptable to the potential
aggressor, thereby preventing an attack.
Defense: If war breaks out, the government aims to defend itself and deny the
attacker their goals.
Balance of Power Countries constantly assess the balance of power between
themselves and others to gauge potential threats.
A powerful neighbor, even without explicit aggressive intentions, might still
pose a future threat. Therefore, maintaining a favorable balance of power is
crucial.
This involves building military,economic, and technological power, as these
are foundational for military strength.
Alliance Building Countries form alliances with others to enhance their
collective security against potential military threats.
These alliances are often formalized through treaties and are based on shared
interests and a clear understanding of common threats.
Alliances can change as national interests evolve.
For example, the U.S. once supported Islamic militants in Afghanistan against
the Soviet Union but later turned against them after the 9/11 attacks.
Internal vs. External Threats In traditional security, most threats are seen as
coming from outside a country’s borders.
While within a country, the government acts as the central authority regulating
violence.
In contrast, the international system lacks a central authority, making it a more
anarchic and brutal arena.
Although the United Nations(UN) is sometimes thought of as a central
authority, it is limited by the power and willingness of its member states. Each
country is primarily responsible for its own security in the international arena.
Traditional Notions of Internal Security
Internal Peace and Order: Security relies on internal peace and order. A
society can't be secure with violence or the threat of violence within its
borders.
Focus Shift After World War II: After WWII, major powers like the US and
Soviet Union felt secure internally, allowing them to focus on external threats.
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Post-War Context: With internal security seemingly assured, powerful


countries shifted their attention to external threats, particularly during the Cold
War.
Cold War Tensions: The Cold War created intense rivalry, with Western and
Soviet blocs fearing military attacks from each other. This rivalry led to
numerous conflicts, especially in the Third World.
Colonial Conflicts: European powers were also preoccupied with violence in
their colonies, facing resistance from colonized peoples seeking independence.
Newly Independent Nations: Countries gaining independence post-WWII
often faced similar security concerns as European powers, worrying about
potential conflicts with former colonial rulers and Cold War superpowers.
Security Challenges: Newly independent nations in Asia and Africa dealt
with threats from neighboring countries and internal conflicts. They feared
military disputes over borders, territories, and populations, as well as internal
separatist movements.
Rise of Civil Wars: Between 1946 and 1991, there was a significant increase
in civil wars, marking the highest rise in 200 years. Internal conflicts now
constitute over 95% of armed conflicts worldwide.
External and Internal Threats: For many new states, security challenges
included wars with neighbors and internal strife, making both external and
internal threats critical to their security.
Q1) What is the primary goal of human security? Explain the difference
between the narrow and broad concepts of human security. OR
Ans. (i) The primary goal of human security is the protection of individuals.
(ii) Narrow concept: It focuses on violent threats to individuals or the
protection of communities and individuals from internal violence.
(iii) Broad Concept: Proponents of this concept argue that the threat agenda
should include hunger, disease and natural disaster because these kill far more
people than war. It encompasses economic security and threats to human
dignity.
Q2) Explain the security challenges faced by the newly independent countries
of Asia and Africa.
Ans. The challenges faced by the newly independent countries:
(i) They faced the prospect of military conflict with their neighbouring
countries.
(ii) They had to worry about internal military conflicts like in Pakistan,
Bangladesh.

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(iii) Many newly independent countries came to fear their neighbours
even more than they feared the US or the soviet Union or the formal colonial
power.
(iv) Many of them quarrel over borders and territories or control of people and
population. Etc.
(v) Many of them are worried about threats from separatist movements to form
independent countries.
(vi) Sometimes, the external and internal threats merge when a neighbor might
instigate and internal separatist movement.
Traditional Security and Cooperation
Recognition of Possible Cooperation in Violence Limitation Countries
should only go to war for justifiable reasons, such as self-defense or protecting
others from genocide.
War should be conducted with restraint, avoiding harm to non-combatants and
unarmed or surrendering combatants.
Excessive violence should be avoided, and force should only be used after all
alternatives have failed.
Security Traditional views of security also support disarmament, arms control,
and confidence building as forms of cooperation.
Disarmament involves states giving up certain types of weapons, as seen in the
1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and the 1997 Chemical
Weapons Convention (CWC), which banned the production and possession of
biological and chemical weapons.
Arms control regulates the acquisition or development of weapons. For
instance, the Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 1972 limited the use of
ballistic missiles by the United States and the Soviet Union.
Confidence building involves countries sharing information about their
military intentions and capabilities to prevent misunderstandings and reduce
the risk of conflict.
Force is seen as both a major threat to security and a primary means of
achieving it in traditional security concepts.
Disarmament Disarmament refers to the process of eliminating specific types
of weapons from military arsenals.
This is typically achieved through international treaties and agreements aimed
at promoting global security and reducing the risk of armed conflict.
Examples of disarmament treaties include :-
1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC): This treaty prohibits the
development, production, and stockpiling of biological weapons.
It has been ratified by over 155 states, including major powers.
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1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC): Similar to the BWC, the
CWC bans the use, production, and stockpiling of chemical weapons. It has
been ratified by 193 states, including all major powers. Arms Control Arms
control involves regulating the production, deployment, and use of specific
weapons to prevent escalation and promote stability between nations. Unlike
disarmament, which seeks to eliminate weapons, arms control focuses on
managing and limiting their proliferation.
Examples of arms control agreements include:-
Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty (1972): This treaty limited the
deployment of ballistic missile defense systems by the United States and the
Soviet Union to prevent the escalation of nuclear arms races.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) (1968): The NPT aims to prevent
the spread of nuclear weapons, allowing nuclear-armed states to maintain their
arsenals while prohibiting non-nuclear states from developing them.
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and Strategic Arms Reduction
Treaty (START): These treaties between the United States and the Soviet
Union aimed at limiting and reducing strategic nuclear arsenals. Confidence
Building Confidence building involves measures taken by countries to enhance
transparency and communication regarding their military activities and
intentions. This process aims to reduce the risk of misunderstandings and
misperceptions that could lead to conflict.
Confidence building measures include: Sharing information about military
forces, including troop deployments and military exercises. Providing advance
notification of significant military activities to prevent surprise attacks.
Engaging in dialogue and communication to clarify intentions and reduce
suspicions.
Force
Force is viewed as a central element in traditional security concepts, both as a
potential threat to security and as a means to achieve it. The use or threat of
military force is seen as a primary tool in ensuring national security and
addressing security challenges. In summary, traditional security perspectives
emphasize the importance of disarmament, arms control, confidence building,
and the role of force in maintaining global security and stability.
Q) What is 'Balance of Power'? How could a state achieve this?
Ans. Critics have given different opinions regarding the definition and
meaning of 'Balance of Power'. Their views regarding Balance
of Power are given ahead:
1. Lord Castlereagh defines balance of power as "the maintenance of such just

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equilibrium between the members of the family of nations as should prevent
any of them from becoming sufficiently strong to impose its will upon the
rest."
2. To Quincy Wright, "It is a system designed to maintain a continuous
conviction in any state that if it attempts aggression it would encounter an
invincible combination of the others."
3. Morgenthau holds that, "it is an actual state of affairs in which power is
distributed among several nations with approximate equality."
These definitions show diversity in the views of scholars regarding the
meaning of Balance of Power.
Balance of Power is an application of the checks and balance theory of
domestic politics to international politics.
Devices for Maintaining Balance of Power
The balance of power creates an equilibrium which is temporary and
improvised. It is in this sense dynamic. In order to maintain a favourable
balance of power, the States have been continually engaged in evolving certain
devices. These are:
1. Alliances and Counter-Alliances. The most commonly applied technique for
the maintenance of balance of power is the system of alliance. This system is
as old as the known history of States. According to Morgenthau, "Alliances are
necessary for function of the balance of power operating within a multiple state
system."
2. Armament and Disarmament. Amassing the armaments is the most visible
way of gaining power advantage. Whenever a nation increases its military
power its rival nations also enter a race of armaments. The best example is that
of U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. in this respect. Disarmament is also sometimes a
weapon of balance of power. But in practice disarmament efforts for
maintaining balance have been disappointing.
3. Compensation. This technique involves the redistribution of territory in such
a way that international equilibrium is not disturbed. Each great power receives
equal share of territory.
4. Buffer State. Another way of acquiring power and maintaining it, according
to Mahendra Kumar, "is to set up a neutral buffer State which is weak and
which is situated between two large and unfriendly nations. The function of
such a buffer State is to keep the large unfriendly powers apart and thus
minimize the chances of war between them." Poland was a buffer State
between Russia and Germany.
5. Intervention and Non-intervention. It often happens that a major nation tries

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to regain a lost ally or puts up a new ally by intervening in the internal
affairs of a smaller country and establishing there a friendly Government.
Britain intervened in Greece at the end of the World War II in order to ensure
that Greece did not fall into the hands of Communists. Likewise Russia did in
Hungary and Czechoslovakia. U.S.A. is a great interventionist in Latin
America. India intervened in Bangladesh struggle.
6. Divide and Rule. Divide and Rule is a method of altering the distribution of
power by detaching allies from the opposite side, compelling them either into
neutrality or isolated position or winning their friendship. Britain has pursued
this policy with great success in many of her colonies.
7. Holder of Balance. Since changes in the power of nations take place so
often, there is the necessity of the balance or the holder of balance, or the
laughing third party. The balancer is a nation or a group of nations, which
remains aloof from the rivalries of others and plays the role of the laughing
third party by posing temptations to the other equal parties so that each of the
contending parties to win over the support of the balancer.
Thus, these are the devices of Balance of Power.

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