It would be a truism to reiterate that international security is a seamless web. Regional and national security are parts thereof in a construction resembling the spider’s web. There is a central node, with skeins branching off in several directions. This analogy has strengthened in the post-Cold War era. For one, military security, which ordered the hierarchy of nations earlier in precise terms, is now known to suffer from several inadequacies, and is unable to deal with the new and emerging threats to security. For another, non-military and human security questions have become more significant for the security of nations. These are large issues requiring elaborate treatment, but the limited question being addressed here is: how does international security impinge on the regional security of
South Asia
? Five can be isolated. They are:
· First, a new awareness regarding the significance of the non-military threats to security is accruing in the region. They include cross-border movements of population; ethno-political, socio-economic, and communal-religious politics; terrorism with its seminal linkages to money-laundering operations, and drugs/ arms smuggling; environmental degradation spawning its related problems of deforestation and desertification; internal migration; chaotic urbanization; and so on. The need for non-military solutions to these security threats that need pursuit in the political and socio-economic directions has begun to inform ruling elites.
· Second, transnational sources of insecurity transcending national boundaries have the potential to exacerbate internal and non-military threats. They constitute the more serious threats to national security in
South Asia
, and comprise, the virus of religious terrorism; arms and drugs smuggling and money laundering with their inextricable links to international organized crime; and the proliferation of small arms, explosives and mines. The inherent nature of these threats emphasizes the need for more purposive regional and international cooperation for mitigating them. One can, of course, overstate these fears by urging, as Paul Kennedy has done, that a threat to national security can be exaggerated to mean anything on the globe which challenges a people’s health, economic well-being, social stability, and political peace. “The problem”, he says, “with this all-encompassing definition is that it lacks the drama, the clarity, and the immediacy of a military threat to national security“.
· Third, the mantras of the post Cold War age, globalization and liberalization, have adverse security implications for the weaker countries of South Asia; their capacity to manage their economies is fast eroding, leading to an increase in their dependency on the developed nations. This phenomenon is occurring alongside an explosive expansion of the electronic media; its widespread reach has generated a spiral of rising expectations in their people. Disillusionment with the ability of governments to fulfill their aspirations could encourage dissent and militancy directed again the authority of the State.
· Fourth, the stark poverty and deprivation visible in
South Asia
underlines the importance of ensuring human security in the region, whereby the focus changes from security through armaments to security through human development; from territorial security to food, employment and environmental security. The dismal statistics, however, relating to infant mortality, population growth, gender imbalance, illiteracy, health and educational facilities, lack of food and safe drinking water and employment opportunities in
South Asia
highlights the parlous state of human security obtaining in the region. The dangers to national security from an upsurge of popular discontent fuelled by the rising expectations of the people and the influence of the electronic media can hardly be over-stressed.
· Fifth, a crisis of governance afflicts the nations of
South Asia
to greater or lesser degree, manifested by their decaying democratic institutions, splintering political parties, instability of governments, contempt for the rule of law, alienation of minorities and so on. The result is an inability of the State to deliver the basic services needed to ensure human security, or to ensure ‘hard’ security like the maintenance of law and order. More disagreeably, the criminalization of politics in the region highlights the anomaly that the State is becoming the problem, rather than the solution to ensuring the security of its citizens. The inability of the State to govern indubitably aggravates the problem of human security in
South Asia
.
The inadequacy of a military approach to national security and the growing significance of non-military and human security draws attention to the need for evaluating the threats to national security in
South Asia
objectively to enable a utilitarian security policy being drafted, priorities being established to achieve them, and appropriate budgetary allocations being made. This exercise is not static. Both the establishments concerned with managing national security within the government and academic bodies dealing with such issues must revisit them from time to time.
Facebook
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Y! MyWeb
