Question

"The non-traditional notions of security are more comprehensive than the traditional notions of security." Support the statement with the help of suitable examples.

Hint:

To easily remember why non-traditional security is more comprehensive, think of “Human-Centric Security”. While traditional security protects the borders of the state using armies, non-traditional security protects the lives of individuals from threats like climate change, pandemics, poverty, and cross-border terrorism.

Answer 1

Step 1: Contrasting Traditional and Non-Traditional Frameworks:
The traditional notion of security is state-centric, focusing primarily on protecting the military, territorial integrity, and political sovereignty of the state from external foreign aggression. In contrast, the non-traditional notion of security (often referred to as human security or global security) shifts the focus of security from the state to the individual. It recognizes that in an interconnected world, the most pressing threats to human survival often originate from non-military sources, making it a much more comprehensive framework.

Step 2: Shifting Focus from State Sovereignty to Human Well-being:
While traditional security protects borders, non-traditional security protects human lives, acknowledging that individuals can face existential threats even in a country safe from foreign invasion.
• Freedom from Want: Securing individuals against poverty, hunger, chronic malnutrition, and lack of access to basic healthcare.
• Freedom from Fear: Protecting people from structural violence, communal conflicts, human rights violations, and state-sponsored oppression.

Step 3: The Threat of Climate Change and Environmental Degradation:
Environmental issues demonstrate why military force alone is insufficient to guarantee security.
• Existential Ecological Threats: Global warming, rising sea levels, and deforestation threaten the survival of entire populations, particularly in low-lying island nations (such as the Maldives) and coastal regions.
• Resource Scarcity: Desertification and water scarcity can trigger mass migrations and regional conflicts over shared resources, illustrating how environmental degradation can lead to broader security instability.

Step 4: Pandemics and Global Health Crises:
The rapid spread of infectious diseases highlights the limits of traditional military defense, as borders and weapons cannot stop microscopic pathogens.
• Global Impact: Pathogens (such as COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, or avian influenza) can cross international borders within hours, causing significant loss of life and severe economic disruption.
• Cooperative Response: Managing these threats requires international cooperation, healthcare investments, and scientific collaboration through bodies like the World Health Organization (WHO), rather than traditional military alliances like NATO.

Step 5: Transnational Terrorism and Human Migration:
Non-traditional security also addresses complex human flows and asymmetric threats:
• Transnational Terrorism: Modern terrorist networks utilize global communication, electronic banking, and decentralized structures to target civilians across borders, making traditional military deterrence ineffective against these non-state actors.
• Refugee Crises: Conflicts and poverty force millions of people to flee their homes, creating complex humanitarian crises that require cooperative global resettlement and aid strategies.