National security
National security refers to the
public policy of maintaining the integrity and survival of the
nation-state through the use of
economic,
military and
political power and the exercise of
diplomacy, in times of
peace and
war.
Measures taken to ensure national security include:
* using diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats
* marshalling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation
* maintaining effective
armed forces* implementing
civil defense and
emergency preparedness measures (including
anti-terrorism legislation)
* ensuring the resilience and redundancy of
critical infrastructure* using
intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and
espionage, and to protect
classified information* curbing
pollution to ensure edible food and clean
water supply and to decrease the potential for
abrupt climate changeFollowing the
terrorist September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, and subsequent terrorist incidents around the world, national security has become a paramount concern for many governments and societies. The measures adopted to maintain national security in the face of threats to society has in turn led to ongoing
dialectic, particularly in
liberal democracies, on the appropriate scale and role of
authority in matters of
civil and
human rights.
Public discourse on these issues has highlighted the tension that exists between the preservation of the state (by maintaining
self-determination and
sovereignty) and the
rights and
freedoms of individuals.
Although national security measures are imposed to protect society as a whole, such measures will necessarily tend to restrict the rights and freedoms of all individuals in society. The concern is that where the exercise of national security laws and powers is not subject to
good governance, the
rule of law, and strict
checks and balances, there is a risk that "national security" may simply serve as a pretext for suppressing
unfavorable political and social views. Taken to its
logical conclusion, this view contends that measures which may ostensibly serve a national security purpose (such as
mass surveillance, and
censorship of
mass media), could ultimately lead to an
Orwellian dystopia.
The debate also raises questions about whether national security is ultimately weakened by the diversion of
public sector funds away from basic services such as
education, the
health care system and disaster relief and
emergency preparedness, and into national security measures and programs.
In the United States, the politically controversial
USA Patriot Act and other government action has brought some of these issues to the attention of even the average citizen. The debate raises the question, "To what extent, for the sake of national security, should individual rights and freedoms be restricted?", or "can the restriction of civil rights for the sake of national security be justified?".
*
Anti-terrorism legislation*
Computer insecurity*
Good governance*
Homeland security*
International security*
National defense*
National Security Adviser (U.S.)
*
National Security Agency (U.S.)
*
Nuclear deterrence*
Police state*
Rule of law*
Security*
Terrorism
