Throughout the semester, I have learned about the security, and security is one of the most important issues in the world. Many people think security means safety and peace as same as I thought, and I thought security is like a password. Nowadays, many people have a password to protect their information in the world. When we use the internet and bank service, they always require a password, and many people have different passwords each other because of protecting personal information. Of course, it is one of the security issues, but security divided by three parts. According to the “Global Politics,” security divided by individual, national security, and international security. Many people might be familiar with individual security in the world, and every day, many people somewhere in the world are killed, starved, tortured, raped, impoverished, imprisoned, displaced, or denied education and healthcare in the name of security, according to the “Security Studies. “These things are security issues, and those things threat our life. I think security has involved many meanings, and security is a power, so many countries spend a lot of money to enhance military power because it can use a foreign policy. For example, the U.S has the biggest military power in the world, so they have the biggest political power in the international societies. I think military power will bring the war and arms race between a state and state, and nuclear weapon is a symbol of military power. Besides, nuclear weapons threat many people and countries in the world, and it has some side effects.The world is becoming more insecure to live in as times goes by, in the early days people used to exist in a more secure world than we are living today. There are more threats that are facing the world than there was in the earlier years. Nations are expanding their military territories in their areas of interest .Nowadays politics is being defined by how leaders contribute towards military growth; this is a threat to national and global security especially if the military is sidelined towards a particular political figure.
Nowadays, many countries have been spending a lot of money to have more powerful arms, and they try to have a nuclear weapon. As we know, nuclear weapons are a symbol of military power because it is weapons of mass. Some developing countries try to develop a nuclear weapon, such as India, Syria, and North Korea because they do not have a power in the world. Some advanced countries already have nuclear weapons, such as the U.S, the U.K, Russia, France, and Israel, so these advanced countries have a powerful foreign policy in the world. For example, advanced countries intervene in military and political of developing countries, so developing countries try to have a nuclear weapon. However, advanced countries do not want developing countries to develop a nuclear weapon because it relates with international politics. In the past, Pakistan tried to develop a nuclear weapon, but the U.S desperately opposes Pakistan to develop a nuclear weapon, so the U.S has kept their economic blockade policy toward Pakistan. The US has for long been in conflict with other countries such as Syria due to the production of nuclear weapons, this is an hypocritical and an ironical one since the US has gets its own nuclear weapon. Just like in the period of world war 11 which was characterized by the arms race, the trend still continues. The arms race is an aspect that developing and developed countries are trying to have a share in and a say in global security. The rush and desire for every nation to develop its own weapons is now turning out to be a global security threat. Security measures are now turning out tube the worst security threat to the world .Security has turned out to be an ethnocentric issues rather than a global issue. There are various factors that have been a threat to individual, national and global security. Unfortunately with these factors have increased with time rather than decrease. The influence of modernity has come with its own negative challenges that nations have to handle. One of the biggest challenge that have been there for a long time is warfare among different and within a single nation. Some nations have lagged behind for long due to the many wars being experienced. Even after the first and second world war, some nations have not gained the stability and security as expected.
Suspicions among different nations have brought about tension whose end result is war. Once a nation advances in terms of military superiority, other nations feel that it might be a threat to their security. Military blocks have even been formed between different nations; these blocks are not primarily formed to defend the interest of different regions. Some of the military organizations such as NATO have been involved in the killing of innocent citizens and even citizens all in the name of war. Developed nations have taken their military supremacy to the developing nations with; this was evident in nations such as Libya where the president was killed by NATO forces. This was against the rule of law. Some of the developed nations have even sent their military troops top areas that they have interest in, an example is the war in Iraq, and one wonders whether the US needed to send its troops just because of one person. The military has even been accused of various crimes such as rape and even looting of property in those areas.
Military and nuclear weapons will always be the weapons of war; wars can be internal in a nation which involves different people in a nation or between different nations. Analysts have predicted that if any war occurs in the world it will be because of the arms race. It is not clear to what extent a nation should go to produce weapons such as nuclear weapons whose effects were experienced during the world war 11 in Japan.Collective security is not an aspect that has been put into considerations. Whenever any nations feel threatened by the practices of any nation, the first option that comes into the mind of the leaders is war; this is because of the urge and desire for nations to prove their superiority. Other nations will therefore back up their favorite nations in the war. In order to understand how war evolves and ends up becoming a global issue, it is important to understand the causes of war (Cordesman & Anthony 123).Some nations have almost half their budget being spent on military and territorial protection. The weapons range from space, ground and marine weapons.
War arises as a result of conflict which occurs in different levels. In the early days people used to go for war for different reasons, however the approach that was taken in the early period was different from the current one. With the development of modern weapons has led to the evolution of modern warfare. Some of the conflicts that have occurred are as a result of militarization. Militarization occurs when weapons are at the disposal of so many people in the public and people even volunteering to serve in the military. In some nations such as Israel it is mandatory for the young people to enroll for military training; one wonders what is the need to train all these people on military tactics. In some nations such there exists parallel governments with each having its own military. This is attributed to the fact that most people have now received military training but do not serve in the armed forces .Others are warlords that are determined to overthrow ruling governments. In other nations the military decided to overthrow the government and take control on the governance. Recently in Africa there were rebellion countries such as Libya, Mali and Egypt with some resulting into war among the citizens? In order to avoid war and conflicts related to militarization, it is important to have a well-controlled and coordinated military force. The military should be free from political manipulation and should act not only on maintaining peace within it nation but also in the world. There should be controlled military power to ensure that it does not go overboard and cause regional warfare. Before calling for military intervention in any crisis it is important to consider other peaceful methods of resolving conflicts, the military should be the last option (Bauder & Julia 89).Armed militias have become a threat to national security in many nations, some of the militias are led and organized by former military personals making them even more superior. The militias are involved in armed battles with the army; an example is the case of Somali where the Alshabaab have taken the nation hostage for long.
Another major cause of war is conflict that arises from foreign intervention. Some of the wars that have recently occurred have resulted from foreign intervention. Developed contrived have the mentality that they can solve any issue in the developing nations. In the process of solving these issues they pose a security threat to the nation. Foreign intervention should not integer with the sovereignty of any nation. Sometimes the foreign intervention results to use of military power like in the case of Libya and the NATO forces. Foreign interventions are sometimes driven by selfish motives that do not benefit the country in conflict. Some nations have intervened in order to gain economic and even political control of the country which eventually results to war. Foreign intervention should be based on mutual agreement between two or more countries in order to avoid any conflict that results to war from arising. Some nations have even provided military supplies to warlords so as to overthrow existing governments and this results to war. Unless there is trust among nations, foreign intervention can lead war among different nations. Foreign intervention can also be in terms of military intervention; the foreign military should understand its mission and not work as the commanding force within the nation. There are cases where foreign intervention has worked well like in peace keeping missions which involve the military. During foreign interventions peace treaties serve as some as a key tool in stopping wars that emerge in different nations. Another factor that has been identified as a key factor causing war in many nations is politics; many political leaders are ready to protect their nations and interests by all measures including using the military. People know that once the military has taken over, that is a sign of war.
Poor economic performance has also been identified as a cause of warfare in the modern world. This is quite evident in the developing countries as people try to strive for survival. Some nations have been involved in war due to issues such as trade with one of the common cause of war being minerals and especially oil. War rises as different people and even foreign nations try to gain control over the economic resources in a nation. Nations such as Nigeria have encountered a long period of warfare as different groups try to gain control of the mineral resources. Economic disparity has led to warfare as people fight for resources such as land. One might question how such factors contribute to insecurity but people will never be secure unless there is peace. Any issue that threatens the peace and stability of any nation or person contributes to insecurity. Region such as Southern and Northern Sudan have for long been at war due to the control of the oil mines. Instead of these resources benefiting the people, they have turned out to be a curse to nations. Economic disparity is what actually caused the division between capitalist and communist nations during the cold war .Wars caused by issues relating to economic disparity can be avoided by ensuring that there is equality among different people. Huge economic gaps create suspicions and mistrust among the people who cannot unite towards unity. Some nations also feel economically superior and want to gain economic control in the world, if they encounter any threat; they use their military superiority to eliminate the threat. Foreign military has even taken advantage of some situations such as in Iraq where the US military is being accused of acts which undermine human rights (Middletown & Drew 124).
With modernity and the evolution of religion, religious war is a challenge that is being faced by many nations that have different religious cultures. War such as the Jihad has been associated with religion. Christianity and Islam have been in conflict in some nations with and have been in existence for a long time. Whereas one expects religion to be a uniting factor, it is developing to be a factor of conflict whereby different groups feel that their religion is more superior to others. Terrorism has also been associated with religion which whereby some acts of terror have been aimed towards churches and mosques. To avoid such king of warfare it is important to appreciate the religious diversity that exists within a country. Diversity should be appreciated in any country whether religious or cultural since this is the only way that people can live in unity. Apart from religion factors such as differences in culture and have caused war between different clans .These wars compel the ruling authority to use military intervention which worsens the situation. Recently there was a war between the military in Egypt and the Muslim rebel which resulted to loss of lives and even economic loses in Egypt. What was viewed by many as a move to promote security through use of military personnel turned out to be a situation that got out of control? People have to live with the consequences for long and the security is worse than before the war. Nations which have weak military units will always feel threatened and intimidated by the superior military units.
Any factor that threatens the unity of a country is a threat to human, national and global security. What might be assumed to be just a personal conflict can result to warfare among nations? As people strive to improve on their security by living in secure homesteads and investing a lot of resources in ensuring that they are secure, they have to understand the factors that result to war. This is the only way that people can prevent the occurrence of any war in a nation. However much one is protected, if others are not securing him/she is not safe. There are no heroes in any war and the highest looser is the ordinary citizen who is caught up in a deadly situation. As nations invest so much is military superiority, there is need to focus on the root problem, the weapons will only evoke enmity and need for superiority. Each nation has to make a stand on issues that are related to security. A nation that is not secure lags behind in various ways which include politically and even economically, many wars have been attributed to poor leadership which is a vice that is being experienced by many developing nations, there is need to promote global security for future development. A country that is at war is faced with many security challenges since it offers a suitable breeding ground for acts of insecurity. Use of military in solving all these conflicts can pose more harm rather than a solution to a nation. It is important to use a different approach rather that military power. Use of military weapons to solve any crisis that occurs in a country offers no remedy and will continue to be a security challenge .The future is at threat if nations will rely on the military top resolve conflict and come up with amicable conclusion to resolve conflict. If people are allowed to manufacture arms with the excuse of protecting their territories, there is the bigger threat of the arms being a threat to global security. Nations should sign up treaties and agree on the level of military superiority that should exist in any nation. Military forces should be formed to promote and not destabilize global security. Lessons were learnt during the first and second world war, people fought to protect their territories but the effects of the war are still being felt years later. Selfish gains and the need for more power among nations promote insecurity and nations cannot live in cohesion. The world will not be shaped by how superior we make our military weapons; it will be defined by how people can live in a secure world where personal security is guaranteed. Nations should realize that any weapon defined as a military weapon will always be a threat to national security if it falls into the wrong hands. This is what has happened ion nations where military coups have taken control of the government. It is therefore important to consider the trend and the direction in which the arms race is taking, does it serve in promoting security or it’s just a security threat. Focus should be shifted on other issues such as economic development and empowerment among different nations. Investing in weapons is just a sign that people should be ready for another world war. Economic wrangles among different nations should not be resolved using military superiority. There are cases where war is against the security threat such as militia forces but when it becomes a war against nations, it seizes to be a war for security and becomes a threat to global security. Insecurity is a threat to human life and prosperity of any nation, it is important to ensure security prevails in all times.
Work Cited
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Butler, Richard. The greatest threat: Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, and the crisis of global security. New York: PublicAffairs, 2000. Print.
Cordesman, Anthony H.. Terrorism, asymmetric warfare, and weapons of mass destruction: defending the U.S. homeland. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2002. Print.
Middleton, Drew. Crossroads of modern warfare. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 2000. Print.
Trinquier, Roger. Modern warfare a French view of counterinsurgency. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Security International, 2006. Print.
