Collective security in the interwar period was oxymoronic in that specific national security interests proved irreconcilable with the idea of security for all by all. Additionally, it was empty, as when perceived national security aims did not openly contradict the principle of collective security the two often did not coincide, a gap that translated into a powerful disincentive to embrace collective security as an ideal, and enforce it as a practice.
In light of the War on Terror, conceptions of security are evolving. Focus on national security is, and has been, waning as the sovereign state begins to lose some of its pre-eminence. Many security analysts claim the process of globalisation and it’s associated ‘risks’ are largely outside the control of nation states and that only the development of a global community can deal with this adequately.
Realism leaves little place in order to study broader fields such as health security that states may face, and therefore does not take into account HIV/AIDS as a threat to human, national or international security. However, scholars have recently emphasised the growing negative effects of HIV/AIDS on core pillars of states, receiving ever more attention by policy-makers as a potential threat to national security.
Mexico City’s urban water crisis is the result of a long history of poor resource management and negligible citizen activism on water governance. Viewing water as a human right, rather than an economic good, could form the basis for community involvement and improve access and affordability.
During the Cold War the fear of nuclear disaster was a clear danger. The climax of the Cold War that brought the world the closest to nuclear fallout was during the Cuban missile crisis. The Non Proliferation Treaty was signed to keep the number of nuclear states to a minimum in order to try and limit the threats posed by possible nuclear nations.
Despite its initial success, the Palestine Liberation Organisation was never able to achieve its ultimate political objective by using terrorist tactics. The PLO’s turn to global terror tactics, and the immense amount of media exposure that move generated, only magnified their inability to move away from their formerly violent agenda.
The economic revival of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the two decades following the second world war saw a period of unprecedented growth. This impressive leap in growth figures, which bought about greatly increased living standards for the populace, found its roots among underlying economic conditions, foreign influences and the domestic drive towards competition and consumerism.
The continued survival of the Kim regime at the head of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been somewhat of a mystery to international scholars. The Juche ideology employed by the regime is at the heart of North Korea’s longevity and its success in providing continued internal legitimacy for the regime.
The notion of popular sovereignty stands in contrast with Iran’s religious lineage. This dichotomy makes it difficult for the state to materialize its diplomatic goals, which only isolates it from the international system, fueling the need to expand its nuclear program in an effort to ensure national security. It is virtually impossible for Iran to forge successful international relations when it suffers from the national clashing principles of Islamic rule and popular sovereignty.
The democratic peace theory supports, obscures and excuses the coercion and violence of a liberal expansion policy through its reliance on narrow definitions. The use and construction of the democratic peace theory has mainly been about preserving the peace and dominance of western powers under the guise of spreading liberty and equality.
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