There are many security threats that the world are encountering currently, such as climate change and global health. Some traditional political paradigms still have a re-levant definition of national security to the current security challenges, while some do not. This essay contends that the definition of national security of realism could not remain its relevance to the current security threats, while liberalism still has its relev-ance. To support this thesis statement, this essay proceeds in the following manner. Firstly, the definitions of national security in the context of realism and liberalism would be provided respectively. Then, in the next three paragraphs, these definitions would be applied, followed by an example of one specific
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Finally, a brief conclusion will be given.
First of all, the definitions of national security in the contexts of realism and li-beralism will be provided. In terms of realism, the definition is narrow, which is states’ survival. In other words, it is sovereignty. Nevertheless, when it comes to liberalism, it will become more complicated and broader because there are at least three frameworks to define national security in liberalism. The first framework starts from the military perspective, which is the democratic peace theory. The theory states that in order to be peaceful and achieve national security, democratic countries seldom foster wars since they have a common norm that limits the existence of wars or fights (Rosato, 2003). In other words, the first definition of national security of liberalism is whether there are wars or fights between democracies. The second framework is from the economic perspective, which is commercial liberalism. It emphasizes the fact that trade or economic interdependence or economic cooperation, could promote peace (Press-Barnathan, 2006). Moreover, an increase in economic power could help a state to …show more content…
An obvious example is the global health problem. In fact, changes in a state’s health condition would lead to economic recession, political unrest, or even make the country more instable (Katz & Singer, 2007). For instance, HIV/AIDS could adversely affect the workforce and military personnel in the state (Katz & Singer, 2007). If workforce is reduced due to epidemics, that means epidemics might undermine the state’s productivity and the output, so GDP might decline. Therefore, a state’s economic performance and development will decline if there are epidemics, and destabilize the economy. If the state’s economy is fluctuating, then their trade export or import might be unstable or decline, so the economic interdependence between this state and other states might also be weakened. As a result, global health problem could be a recent security threat. In fact, realism is a paradigm about struggle of power (Walt, 1998). By using the definition of national security of realism, if economic interdependence is weakened or volume of trade is reduced, the benefit from trade or economic interde-pendence is likely to reduce, and also affect the power of military personnel, so the state’s military power is weakened. As a result, the state’s survival or sovereignty might be undermined, and thus it could be a threat to
Finally, a brief conclusion will be given.
First of all, the definitions of national security in the contexts of realism and li-beralism will be provided. In terms of realism, the definition is narrow, which is states’ survival. In other words, it is sovereignty. Nevertheless, when it comes to liberalism, it will become more complicated and broader because there are at least three frameworks to define national security in liberalism. The first framework starts from the military perspective, which is the democratic peace theory. The theory states that in order to be peaceful and achieve national security, democratic countries seldom foster wars since they have a common norm that limits the existence of wars or fights (Rosato, 2003). In other words, the first definition of national security of liberalism is whether there are wars or fights between democracies. The second framework is from the economic perspective, which is commercial liberalism. It emphasizes the fact that trade or economic interdependence or economic cooperation, could promote peace (Press-Barnathan, 2006). Moreover, an increase in economic power could help a state to …show more content…
An obvious example is the global health problem. In fact, changes in a state’s health condition would lead to economic recession, political unrest, or even make the country more instable (Katz & Singer, 2007). For instance, HIV/AIDS could adversely affect the workforce and military personnel in the state (Katz & Singer, 2007). If workforce is reduced due to epidemics, that means epidemics might undermine the state’s productivity and the output, so GDP might decline. Therefore, a state’s economic performance and development will decline if there are epidemics, and destabilize the economy. If the state’s economy is fluctuating, then their trade export or import might be unstable or decline, so the economic interdependence between this state and other states might also be weakened. As a result, global health problem could be a recent security threat. In fact, realism is a paradigm about struggle of power (Walt, 1998). By using the definition of national security of realism, if economic interdependence is weakened or volume of trade is reduced, the benefit from trade or economic interde-pendence is likely to reduce, and also affect the power of military personnel, so the state’s military power is weakened. As a result, the state’s survival or sovereignty might be undermined, and thus it could be a threat to