Security
The word security means the quality or state of being secure. It therefore implies freedom from danger,
fear or anxiety. Security can be understood on many different levels such as
individual, group, regional, national or global. If we understand security on
these five levels we can understand the way security agreements are made and
executed.
Individual Security
Individual security implies protection from physical and psychological
harm. If an individual feels fear or anxiety due to one reason or the other,
this threatens his sense of security, his sense of safety. The UN Declaration
of Human Rights mentions that all peoples are entitled to the ‘security of the
person.’ This is easier said than done. How do we ensure individual security?
Usually, individual security is protected by the laws of the nation and
includes punishment of crimes, such as murder, theft, and coercion. Individual
security also implies the attainment of basic needs such as food, home and job.
Many people see individual security as achieving a high standard of living.
Group Security
Just as an individual wants to feel secure, so does a group. However a
group goes further—it wants to secure itself from discrimination. An individual
can be mistreated due to his religious, ethnic or national background, but when
this happens to an entire group it acquires the meaning of discrimination.
Discrimination can become more obvious if an entire group is discriminated on
the basis of some affiliation or identity. A group can easily organize itself
and mobilize its members to fight any kind of discrimination. Therefore group
security implies safety to its identity as a group.. If we wish to ensure the
security of a group we must make laws that do not discriminate either in letter
or in spirit.
Regional Security
Regional security involves a region that can be either a part of a
nation or a sub-continent—such as the Kashmir region or the Asian region.
Regional security implies security of the region in terms of its economic
interests and rights. Regional groups might want to protect their regional
resources by preventing mass immigration or migration. The might wish to
maintain a certain standard of living by upgrading group security to a regional
security.
National Security
The most important and contentious aspect of security is on the
national level. The nation state invariably sees itself as the sole protector
of individual, group and regional securities. By providing agricultural
subsidies or imposing tariffs on manufactured good a nation attempts to protect
a region or a group from becoming unstable.
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