1. Meaning of security and the traditional view
Security = freedom from threats to core values (survival, territory, way of life). Only grave threats, which could seriously damage those values, are treated as security issues; otherwise the idea becomes too wide.
Traditional view: the state is the object of security and the gravest danger is military attack, which threatens sovereignty, territory and civilian lives. A government facing war can surrender, deter or defend.
Four components of external security:
- Deterrence: prevent war by making it too costly for an attacker.
- Defence: limit or end a war once it begins.
- Balance of power: keep a check on the relative strength of rivals; build up when a neighbour grows much stronger.
- Alliance building: coalitions of states to deter or fight; based on national interest, so they shift over time.
Why self-help: there is no world government above states, so each relies on its own strength and partners.
| Component | Idea | When it works |
|---|---|---|
| Deterrence | Make an attack too costly to try | Before a war |
| Defence | Limit damage, repel the attacker | During a war |
| Balance of power | Stop a rival from becoming far stronger | All the time |
| Alliance building | Pool strength with partners | Before and during a war |
Key terms
- Deterrence
Preventing an attack by making clear it would cost the attacker too much.
- Balance of power
Keeping the strength of rivals from tilting sharply against one's own country.
- Alliance
A coalition of states formed to deter or meet military attack, guided by national interest.
2. Internal security, limits on war and cooperation
Internal security: after 1945 most Western powers were stable at home and focused on external, Cold War threats. Many newly independent states of Asia and Africa faced both neighbours and separatist movements inside their borders.
Limits on war: force as a last resort, in proportion to the threat, sparing non-combatants and surrendering soldiers.
Cooperation within traditional security:
- Disarmament: giving up whole categories of weapons, e.g. the Biological Weapons Convention (1972) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (1992).
- Arms control: regulating weapons, e.g. the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (1972) between the USA and the USSR, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968), under which states that tested before 1967 kept their weapons and others gave up the option. India has not signed the NPT and calls it discriminatory.
- Confidence building: sharing military information (exercises, deployments) to avoid surprise and mistaken war.
| Form of cooperation | What it does | Imagined example |
|---|---|---|
| Disarmament | Gives up a whole category of weapons | Two rivals destroy all stocks of a nerve gas |
| Arms control | Regulates or caps weapons | Each side keeps at most fifty launchers |
| Confidence building | Shares information to avoid mistakes | Advance notice of army exercises |
| Most Western powers after 1945 | Many new states of Asia and Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Main worry | External threats, especially in the Cold War | Both neighbours and internal separatist movements |
| Internal situation | Largely stable | Often contested borders and identities |
Key terms
- Disarmament
Agreement to give up or destroy a whole kind of weapon.
- Arms control
Agreement to limit or regulate weapons without abolishing them.
- Confidence building
Exchange of military information between rivals to prevent misunderstanding.
3. Non-traditional security: human and global
Non-traditional security widens whose security counts (people, humanity) and which threats count (beyond the military).
Human security protects individuals. One reason for the idea: in many cases governments have harmed their own citizens.
- Narrow concept: protection mainly from violence.
- Broad concept: also freedom from want: hunger, disease, natural disasters. Both camps agree people come first; they differ on the list of threats.
Global security: threats such as global warming, international terrorism and epidemics that cross borders and that no country can tackle alone.
| Traditional | Non-traditional | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose security | The state | People and humanity as a whole |
| Main threats | Military attack, separatism | Also violence by states on people, hunger, disease, climate |
| Main tools | Armed force, alliances | Cooperation, development, rights |
Key terms
- Human security
Security of individual people rather than of the state alone.
- Global security
Security against threats that affect the whole world and need joint action.
4. New threats: terrorism, human rights and poverty
Terrorism: political violence deliberately aimed at civilians to create fear and force political change; often by non-state groups working across borders.
Human rights: three categories: political; economic and social; rights of colonised peoples and ethnic and indigenous minorities. The debate on humanitarian intervention weighs protecting people against sovereignty and the risk of selective action by powerful states.
Global poverty: the gap between rich and poor regions and rapid population growth in some poor countries feed hunger, conflict and migration, with effects across borders.
| Category | Imagined example of a demand |
|---|---|
| Political rights | Freedom to speak, meet and vote |
| Economic and social rights | Clean water, health care, fair wages, schooling |
| Rights of colonised peoples and minorities | Self-rule; protection of indigenous and ethnic groups |
| Arguments for intervention | Concerns about intervention |
|---|---|
| Grave abuse of people cannot be ignored | It can override a country's sovereignty |
| Lives matter more than borders | Powerful states may act selectively, for their own interests |
| Collective action can stop mass violence | It may worsen violence if badly planned |
Key terms
- Terrorism
Political violence that targets civilians on purpose to spread fear.
- Humanitarian intervention
Action by outside powers inside a country to stop grave abuse of its people.
5. Migration and health epidemics
Refugees flee war, persecution or disaster across an international border. Internally displaced persons are uprooted but stay inside their country. Both face hunger, illness and lack of protection; host areas face strain on services and prices.
Epidemics (HIV/AIDS, and later outbreaks and pandemics) spread through travel, trade and migration, overload health systems and disrupt economies. Border closures alone are not enough; shared data, research and health aid are needed.
Key terms
- Refugee
A person forced to flee who has crossed an international border.
- Internally displaced person
A person forced to flee who remains within their own country.
6. Cooperative security and India's security strategy
Cooperative security: joint action against non-traditional threats at bilateral, regional, continental or global levels, involving states, international organisations, NGOs, businesses and prominent individuals. Force may be used only as a last resort, preferably with collective approval (e.g. against terrorists or mass abuse).
India's security strategy (four components):
- Military capabilities: conflicts with neighbours and a nuclear-armed neighbourhood; nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998; a stated policy of credible minimum deterrence and no first use.
- International norms and institutions: universal, non-discriminatory disarmament, decolonisation, a fairer world order, the UN system.
- Internal security challenges: handled through democratic and constitutional means, such as dialogue and protection of minority rights.
- Economic development: reducing poverty, inequality and deprivation.
| Level | Who takes part | Imagined example |
|---|---|---|
| Bilateral | Two countries | Joint patrols against smugglers |
| Regional | Neighbours in a region | Shared flood and cyclone warnings |
| Global | Most countries, UN agencies | A worldwide vaccination drive |
| Non-state | NGOs, businesses, individuals | Medical charities training nurses |
Key terms
- Cooperative security
Security achieved through joint action of many states and other actors, with force as a last resort.
- No first use
A pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.
Exam tips
Common mistakes
- Swapping deterrence (before war) and defence (once war begins).
- Calling the NPT or ABM Treaty disarmament: they are arms control.
- Calling people who flee within their own country refugees: they are internally displaced persons.
- Listing only two categories of human rights.
- Giving personal opinions on current conflicts. Stick to concepts and agreed facts.
How marks are usually awarded
- 1 mark: one correct option.
- 2 marks: two points, or a definition with an example (30–50 words).
- 3 marks: three distinct points (50–80 words).
- 5 marks: five headed points (80–120 words); evaluation questions need both sides and a conclusion.
- Source questions (4 marks): quote, name, explain; part (c) has an internal choice.
Sources in SOYL practice are imagined documents written for practice; your board paper will give its own.