World Politics in a New Era Security Theory and Practice

What Is National Security? Many different aspects that change over time and between environments Most states face both internal and external threats – Often interrelated – Overreaction to one can increase risks from the other Transnational threats to security are coming to the top of many states' agendas

Subjective versus Objective Aspects Security is a subjective perception or feeling – Some states have felt threatened for reasons that other states found hard to understand – Others did not recognize threats and fell victim to surprise attack Subjective perceptions of security influence a state's security precautions Working definition of security – A condition in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a state are guaranteed – The security dilemma

Military Power Hardware and software Depends greatly on economic power Weapons of mass destruction – Strategic nuclear forces – Tactical nuclear weapons – Eight declared nuclear weapons powers and several suspected – Chemical and biological weapons

Military Power Military Personnel – Strength of a nation's ground, naval, and air forces – No indication of qualitative factors such as training and leadership – Alliances and reserve forces Defense expenditures – How much material power a state is attempting to convert into military strength – Military expenditure as a percentage of GNP

Military Power Logistics and power projection – Logistics: delivering forces and supplies to the right place at the right time – Power projection: ability to apply military force beyond a state's borders Qualitative factors – Equipment – Training – Morale

Soft Power Joseph Nye, Jr. A state’s ability to get other countries to do what it wants Cooperate and coordinate with a series of other actors – Transnational corporations – Consider economic and ecological security Simply a measure of popularity? Examples: the U.S. role in Iraq and the Russian experience with Chechnya

Deterrence Definition Requirements – Commitment (draw line in the sand) – Capability (means to retaliate) – Credibility (reputation, past behavior, and image) Types of deterrence – General and immediate – Primary and extended

Criticisms of Deterrence Human beings are not always perfectly rational It is often difficult to determine and demonstrate the criteria for success of deterrence Opponents rarely understand each other perfectly Defensive weapons systems reduce the effectiveness of mutual deterrence – ABM to SDI

Defense and Compellence Defense – Reduces an enemy's capability to damage or take something away – Minimizes damage from an attack – Denies territory and other resources to the attacker – Primarily physical Compellence – Forces an adversary to reverse or undo some damaging action – Almost always more difficult than deterrence – Example: Cuban Missile Crisis

Technology and Security Important component of material power Technological breakthroughs Lead time High technology is usually costly The offense/defense balance – Whenever the offense is dominant, wars are more likely to occur, but can be expected to be shorter and less costly – When defense is dominant, wars are less likely but tend to be protracted wars of attrition with high casualties

Technology and Security The cutting edge – Space as a theater of military operations – The combination of advanced information systems with improved delivery systems – Information warfare – A growing emphasis on non-lethal weapons

Arms Control and Disarmament Definitions The primary goal of arms control is strategic stability Early efforts at disarmament – Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 – The naval treaties of the 1920s and 1930s – The Baruch Plan

Arms Control and Disarmament Test Bans – The Limited Test-Ban Treaty (1963) – The Threshold Test-Ban Treaty (1974) – The Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (1996) SALT I (1972) – The Interim Agreement – The ABM Treaty SALT II (1979) – Never ratified but adhered to by both sides

Arms Control and Disarmament START I (1991) – First arms control treaty to actually reduce levels START II (1993) – Further reduce their strategic nuclear arsenals – Russia’s ratification (in 2000) included conditions SORT (2002) – Reduce arsenals but not destroy

Arms Control and Disarmament Intermediate-range and tactical nuclear weapons – INF Treaty (1987) First time that an entire class of nuclear weapons had been banned – Tactical and battlefield nuclear weapons lost their military utility in Europe – USSR successor states agreed to transfer all the tactical nuclear weapons to Russia

Arms Control and Disarmament Cooperative threat reduction – Funds to safe-guard nuclear material – International aid was extended to Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and other former Soviet states – Succeeded in removing all nuclear weapons from Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus – Problems: Russia claimed that too much money went to American contractors and government workers and conversion programs were largely ineffective American critics claimed that Russia could not account for all of the funds allocated to the programs and that it curtailed access to areas containing weapons and nuclear material

Arms Control and Disarmament Nonproliferation Treaty (1968) – Sought to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons – Prohibited states that did not have nuclear weapons from acquiring them – Banned states that possessed nuclear weapons from helping non-nuclear states acquire them – Some states refused to sign – Some state signed but developed programs

Arms Control and Disarmament Chemical weapons – Chemical Weapons Convention (1993) Biological weapons – Biological Weapons Convention (1972) Missiles – The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)

Arms Control and Disarmament Conventional arms control – Fruitless endeavor during the Cold War – Mutual and Balanced Force Reduction talks (MBFR) – Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty (1990) – The developing world has failed to undertake adequate arms control Many developing countries rely on defense expenditures for growth