National Security

This paper takes an in-depth look at national security in terms of protecting the citizenry from threats to stability. The reader gleans a stronger understanding of the parameters of national security as it relates to protecting a political system from external threats as well as taking offensive measures in the name of national security.

Keywords Cold War; Espionage; Globalization; Mutually-Assured Destruction; NATO; Terrorism

Social Issues — Public Policy > National Security

Overview

For as long as nations have existed, the concept of national security has served as their core interest. Institutions with the directive of assessing and taking action against international threats have been established in every political system. Western nations have moved beyond traditional battlefields and towards efforts to uncover clandestine conspirators. The security of their citizenry is insured by assessing the strengths and motivations of those who pose a threat.

This paper takes an in-depth look at national security in terms of protecting the citizenry from threats to stability. The reader gleans a stronger understanding of the parameters of national security as it relates to protecting a political system from external threats as well as taking offensive measures in other nations in the name of national security.

The Meaning of National Security

The central responsibility of the nation state is its own survival. Dangers, both immediate and potential, consistently rest on the minds of political leaders. To defend against such threats to their way of life, governments create networks, institutions, and agencies designed to locate and eliminate threats to national security.

National security has been part of the collective psyche of political leaders throughout history. As the world became more integrated and interstate relations and conflict became more prevalent, national security became a central guiding principal of nation states.

In the years after its founding, the United States was not forced to consider its vulnerability to military attack, instead focusing on maintaining alliances and developing its domestic political infrastructure. The War of 1812 changed this sense of security, as British troops renewed their conflict with the newly formed country. On August 24, 1814, the British Army laid siege to Washington, DC, setting fire to the Capitol building and the White House.

The war ended fter Andrew Jackson led American forces to victory at the Battle of New Orleans and, subsequently, the Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814. However, the image of the two newest symbols of American democracy in flames left an indelible mark on American leaders regarding the necessity to protect the country against attack. Historian John Lewis Gaddis commented in 2004 that, after the War of 1812 and the attack on Washington, DC, Americans reacted differently to preventing potential future attacks, "by taking the offensive, by becoming more conspicuous, neutralizing, and if possible overwhelming the sources of danger rather than fleeing from them" (Blatt, 2004). American policy pertaining to national security became proactive, seeking to foil external conspiracies and anti-American fervor abroad.

India's Central Intelligence Bureau, believed to be the world's oldest intelligence and national security agency, traces its roots to the late 19th century, when British forces succeeded in quelling rebellion and began to establish India as a British dominion. The general goals of this national security agency were to gather information about remaining rebellious and destabilizing forces in the country, to quell indigenous Hindu and Muslim elements that threatened continued violence in the region, and to better gather intelligence on the friendly and hostile regimes of neighboring China, Russia and Afghanistan, as well as nearby Middle Eastern, African, and Southeast Asian nations (Dhar, 2007).

As the examples of the early United States of America and India under the British Crown demonstrate, there are two general themes of national security. On one hand, intelligence and security agencies look inward at destabilizing elements that threaten the country. On the other, they look outward at foreign elements which also pose a risk to national interests and security.

Security within Borders

Civil Violence

In 1794, the government of the United States was faced with a domestic rebellion. Farmers and producers of whiskey, upset by the fact that Congress had passed a new tax on distilled products, boycotted the collection of taxes by intimidating and threatening tax collectors and committing acts of. President George Washington called up approximately 13,000 militiamen to march on western Pennsylvania, where the "Whiskey Rebellion" was most evident. Key leaders of the Rebellion were arrested, but later released ("Whiskey Rebellion," 2005). The incident represents one of America?s first national security crises.

Safeguarding the security interests of a nation does not always mean defense against international threats. Indeed, the Whiskey Rebellion provides proof that attention must be paid to domestic elements that endanger a states's political legitimacy and way of life.

Counterfeiting

Threats to national security exist in numerous forms. In many cases, threats to national security are economic. For example, counterfeit currency and the trade in illicit goods represents a significant threat to American businesses and the American economy. Global trade in counterfeit goods is expected to be valued at $1.7 trillion annually by 2015, up from $650 billion in 2008.

Counterfeit currency remains a viable threat to the economic institutions of the United States. In fact, the existence of technology that can make a counterfeit bills have made it easier to place such currencies into circulation. In 2006, the US Department of the Treasury seized $62 million in fake money, a 70 percent increase over the amount seized in 2003.

Illness & Natural Threats

Threat to a country's national security are not always man-made. In 1918, as the First World War wound down, an outbreak of influenza created shockwaves around the globe. Of the American soldiers who died in the European theater, half died due to exposure to the virus and not enemy fire.

In 2008, a study of the threats to Great Britain's national security revealed that an influenza outbreak is likely to have a greater impact on that nation's security than would a terrorist attack (Burns, 2008).

In addition to health care crises, national security is also impacted by natural disasters. Economic and security infrastructure can be severely damaged by hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, and blizzards. The extraordinary cost of search and rescue, repair of power lines and systems, medical care, transport and reconstruction, drains state resources. In the United States, for example, the National Guard is often deployed to disaster zones to assist in operations. However, when some of the Guard's personnel are stationed overseas in combat or disaster assistance operations, their resources are stretched thin.

National security concerns certainly abound within a country's borders, many of which are not the result of terrorism or foreign-based interference. There is an equally broad range of elements beyond those borders that play a role in impacting a country's national security.

Beyond Borders

The international community is becoming increasingly connected. It is not unlike a residential neighborhood, with each household interacting with one another but still giving top priority to its own interests. Nevertheless, a state which is an active and participating member of the international community does so in the name of its own national security.

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice echoes this point:

Nowhere is this point more evident than in situations of war and international conflict. One example can be found in the Cold War between the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the USSR-led Warsaw Pact organization. Beginning in 1945, the US and its allies worked to counteract Soviet economic and military pursuits around the globe.

Throughout the Cold War, NATO and the Warsaw Pact nations operated on a sort of chessboard, bolstering weakened regimes whose strategic geography or natural resources presented potential returns for their national security and economic interests.

Post-Cold War developments between the former Soviet Union and the West present an example of how security interests continue to inform relations between former rivals. In August of 2008, Russian forces entered two regions of the sovereign nation (and former part of the Soviet Union) of Georgia. The two areas, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have both expressed either re-joining Russia or independence, but also represent a geographic importance to Russia, as a pipeline that goes through that region to the Caspian Sea is considerable to Russia's ability to assert itself economically. Russia's national security interests were made clear by its effort to establish a buffer region between Russia and the West, as well as enable the oil pipeline construction to continue. Conversely, the US and its allies were quick to criticize the move but held off taking definitive action. Some analysts have expressed concern that a lack of action against Russia will embolden that country to undertake similar pursuits among its neighbors in the future.

The threat of international terrorism has taken center stage in the United States as well as in the European Union. In response to the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 and train bombings in London and Madrid, European and American countries have sent troops, ships and logistical support to the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters in an effort to root out al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The people of Europe still sees terrorism as the greatest threat to their national security and worry about their vulnerability to such attacks ("Security risk analysis," 2008).

By no means are non-domestic national security issues localized to international conflict and terrorism. As is the case with the domestic concentrations of national security, there are many other factors, including some of the very same issues facing a nation inside its borders (natural disasters, health risks and even economic elements). Then again, conflict (and the threat thereof) remains one of the most pressing issues facing nations when dealing with the world beyond their borders.

Conclusion

Howard Koch once said that "There is no security for any of us unless there is security for all" ("Koch, Howard," 1996). As long as nations have existed, they have established a vested interest in maintaining their sovereignty and cohesiveness. Central to this pursuit is the maintenance of national security.

There are two general arenas in which one may analyze national security. On one hand is the domestic front, in which national security is defined and maintained with a look inward at the issues that face a country's very foundations. These issues may have a basis in civil unrest or conflict, as was the case for the early United States and 20th century Great Britain. However, there are many other issues that face a country's national security, including health threats and even criminal activity.

On the international front, there are two major elements creating risks for a country's national security — conflict and terrorism. As illustrated in this paper, these national security concerns remain central to the protection of a country's citizens and are as complex as they are myriad in presentation. The stakes, however, are such that action, or inaction, can be viewed as destabilizing not just to individual countries but to regions as well.

Terms & Concepts

Cold War: 46-year period in the 20th century during which the USSR and the United States were engaged in a competition for global influence.

Espionage: Practice or institution of employing spies to obtain information about another country or system.

Globalization: Socio-economic-political term used to describe the transformation from an international community of nation-states to a singular international system.

Mutually-Assured Destruction: 1950s Cold War political doctrine in which the only armed conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact would be through the use of nuclear weapons.

NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization — a US-led security organization founded in 1949 and comprised of 26 member nations.

Terrorism: Violent or criminal action against civilians, designed to foment fear among target populations and conducted by non-governmental groups in the pursuit of political or ideological objectives.

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Petersen, K. L., & Tjalve, V. S. (2013). (Neo) Republican Security Governance? US Homeland Security and the Politics of 'Shared Responsibility' (Neo) Republican Security Governance? US Homeland Security and the Politics of 'Shared Responsibility'. International Political Sociology, 7, 1-18. doi:10.1111/ips.12006 Retrieved November 4, 2013 from EBSCO online database SocINDEX with Full Text:http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=86380003&site=ehost-live

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Suggested Reading

Campbell, K.M. — Steinberg, J.B. (2008). Managing foreign policy and national security challenges in presidential transitions. Washington Quarterly, 31, 7-20. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34152178&site=ehost-live

Kohlmann, E. (2008). 'Homegrown' terrorists. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 618, 95-109.

US offers security help to the Caribbean. (2008). Florida Shipper, 33, 15. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=31697030&site=ehost-live

Wagner-Pacifici, R. (2008). The innocuousness of state lethality in an age of national security. South Atlantic Quarterly, 107, 459-483. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=32956558&site=ehost-live

Wivel, A. (2008). Balancing against threats or bandwagoning with power? Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 21, 289-305. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=33622602&site=ehost-live