Over the last few decades, particularly after the end of cold war, a distinctive feature of the strategic and security related environment has been the unprecedented and sheer dynamics of change in the concepts, paradigms and complexities of national, regional and global security.
This does not mean that any nation is prepared to compromise on its security or give up its efforts to become powerful. But these trends have undoubtedly made an impact on the complete range of security issues as discussed below.
In the last few decades, the force option has become more and more costlier and less and less effective. The Soviet example has shown the high price of maintaining large standing Armed Forces, not just in economic terms but also in sustaining sovereignty and governance. The expenditure on account of the armed forces and their modern weapons and equipment is so high that unless defence planning is done carefully, it can easily upset a nation's developmental budget.
The international opinion is now strongly against forcible change of regimes or re-drawing of national boundaries through forcible means. Ever since the US pre-emptive action in Iraq, the debate on unilateralism versus multilateralism has intensified. Now there is increasing realization in the world, including the USA, that in any major conflict around the world, there is no alternative to multilateralism to prevent conflicts or to an ultimate conflict resolution.
Meanwhile, the liberalists' concept of cooperative security has gathered momentum. This concept is founded on two arguments.
One, new security challenges are diverse and multi-dimensional. These are:
As these challenges are not solely of a military nature, heavy reliance on the establishment, preparation and use of large-scale military forces to meet these emerging security challenges is unnecessary.
Two, the management of these emerging issues cannot rely on unilateral or even bi-lateral measures but requires multi-lateral efforts through the processes of discussions, negotiations, cooperation and compromise. Cooperative security approach encourages informal, track one and track two dialogues, and inclusive participations until conditions are mature for substantive negotiations on core disputes. This trend is now prevalent everywhere and has also been India's approach in dealing with China and Pakistan.
External threats today do not lie as much in the armies invading across borders, but, more often, are in the form of limited wars, global and cross border terrorism with high technology and lethality available to it, including the possible use of nuclear and biological weapons in the future.
In order to maintain political stability and create a conducive climate for socio-economic development, internal security has gained importance in national security policies. Internal peace and security is a major problem in most of Southern Asia. It is plagued by internal unrests and transnational influences eg, political competition, insurgency movements, caste, communal, ethnic conflicts, and religious fundamentalism. These unrests not only stir up political upheavals within nations but also tend to cross national boundaries and lead to inter-state tensions. Some of the issues that India is faced with are:
On account of the changed pattern of threats discussed earlier, internal and external security has got enmeshed more than ever before.
Non-military developmental security issues--some people call them soft security issues-- have also gained a higher degree of importance in the new globalised security environment. These are issues like rising population, food and water security, depleting energy resources, demographic changes, regional/interstate inequality, global warming and environmental security, and so on.
The whole concept and doctrine of national power has undergone a change in the new global environment. It is not just military but economic, political, cultural and technological power. Greater emphasis on military power as compared to other components could not save Soviet Union's collapse and has got many military regimes into trouble. The true mark of a great power today is strength in all areas. China is pursuing comprehensive power. In Southern Asia, there is still heavy emphasis on military power, though it is much less in India than in Pakistan.
In view of the above-mentioned trends, there is now a growing recognition that security problems require integrated national and international responses more than ever before. These responses combine political, economic development, military and diplomatic instruments.
What about the military? The military today has a tougher job than ever before. It has to be prepared for this elongated spectrum of conflict and security, ranging from Assistance to Civil Authority, peacekeeping and peace enforcement, and counter terrorism, limited wars to a war involving Weapons of Mass Destruction. It requires careful prioritizing of its roles, likely missions, and greater versatility and flexibility. It has also to learn to synergise with other instruments of power and governance that have a role in the enlarged security matrix.
To conclude, there is a need to bridge the gaps between the traditional and the emerging new approach to security, and between national development and security issues through crosscutting policy agendas such as conflict prevention and security sector reforms; by establishing connections with related disciplines like international relations, regional studies, socio-politics and socio-political economy. The integrated security matrix involving both internal and external facets also makes it imperative that security policies include direct and indirect threats and all types of challenges posed by countries, non-state actors and any other intricate factors that impact security of the nation in a global and regional framework.
* Former Chief of Army Staff; currently President, ORF Institute of Security Studies.
*Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Observer Research Foundation.
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