Chapter 7 Security in the Contemporary World Class 12 Political Science Notes
What is Security?
• Security implies freedom from threats. Security relates only to extremely dangerous threats
that could so endanger core values that those values would be damaged beyond repair if we did
not do something to deal with the situation.
Traditional Notions: External
• The greatest danger to a country is from military threats. The source of this danger is another
country which by threatening military action endangers the core values of sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity.
• In response to the threat of war, there are three choices with the government, to surrender; to
prevent
the other side from attacking by promising to raise the costs of war to an unacceptable level;
and to defend itself.
• Security policy is concerned with preventing war, which is called deterrence, and with limiting
or ending war, which is called defence.
• Balance of power means there should be balance between bigger and smaller countries.
• Alliance building means a coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend
against military attack.
• In the traditional view of security, most threats to a country’s security come from outside its
borders because the international system is a rather brutal arena in which there is no central
authority capable of controlling behaviour.
• Within a country, the threat of violence is regulated by an acknowledged central authority - the
government.
Traditional Notions: Internal
• Traditional security concern itself with internal security. After the Second World War, internal
security was more or less assured to the powerful countries on the Earth.
• Most of the European countries faced no serious threats from groups or communities living
within those borders. Hence these countries gave importance to external security.
• The security challenges facing the newly-independent countries of Asia and Africa were
different from the challenges Europe in two ways.
What is Security?
• Security implies freedom from threats. Security relates only to extremely dangerous threats
that could so endanger core values that those values would be damaged beyond repair if we did
not do something to deal with the situation.
Traditional Notions: External
• The greatest danger to a country is from military threats. The source of this danger is another
country which by threatening military action endangers the core values of sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity.
• In response to the threat of war, there are three choices with the government, to surrender; to
prevent
the other side from attacking by promising to raise the costs of war to an unacceptable level;
and to defend itself.
• Security policy is concerned with preventing war, which is called deterrence, and with limiting
or ending war, which is called defence.
• Balance of power means there should be balance between bigger and smaller countries.
• Alliance building means a coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend
against military attack.
• In the traditional view of security, most threats to a country’s security come from outside its
borders because the international system is a rather brutal arena in which there is no central
authority capable of controlling behaviour.
• Within a country, the threat of violence is regulated by an acknowledged central authority - the
government.
Traditional Notions: Internal
• Traditional security concern itself with internal security. After the Second World War, internal
security was more or less assured to the powerful countries on the Earth.
• Most of the European countries faced no serious threats from groups or communities living
within those borders. Hence these countries gave importance to external security.
• The security challenges facing the newly-independent countries of Asia and Africa were
different from the challenges Europe in two ways.
