Traditional security: external and internal

In the traditional idea, the greatest danger to a country is military attack by another country, threatening its sovereignty, independence and territory, and the lives of its people.

Faced with a threat of war, a government has three basic choices:

• Surrender: give in without fighting.
• Deterrence: make war so costly for the enemy that it decides not to attack in the first place.
• Defence: fight to limit or end the war if it comes.

Two more tools of traditional security:

• Balance of power: a country watches the strength of possible rivals and keeps its own strength in balance, through its economy and military.
• Alliance building: a coalition of states that agree to act together to deter or defend against attack. Alliances are based on interests and can change when interests change.

Why must each country look after itself? In world politics there is no central authority above countries, nothing like a police force for nations. The UN is not a world government. So each state is responsible for its own security.

Two different experiences after 1945:

• The powerful Western states and the USSR mainly feared external attack, in the Cold War struggle between the two blocs.
• The newly independent countries of Asia and Africa faced threats from neighbours (often over borders drawn by colonial rulers) and, even more, from inside: separatist movements and civil wars.

Today, internal wars make up more than 95 per cent of all armed conflicts. So for most of the world, the danger is as much inside as outside.