CBSE Class 12 Political Science Chapter 7: Security in the Contemporary World NCERT Solutions

Solution: The correct matches between the terms and their meanings are as follows:

1. Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) - (b) A process of exchanging information on defence matters between nations on a regular basis. These measures aim to increase transparency and reduce mistrust between countries.
2. Arms Control - (d) Regulates the acquisition and development of weapons. This involves agreements to limit the types or quantities of weapons that can be produced or possessed.
3. Alliance - (c) A coalition of nations meant to deter or defend against military attacks. Alliances are formal agreements for mutual defence.
4. Disarmament - (a) Giving up certain types of weapons. This is a more extreme measure than arms control, involving the actual reduction or elimination of existing weapon stockpiles.

Solution: Let's categorize each item based on traditional security concerns, non-traditional security concerns, or whether it is not a threat:

1. (a) The spread of chikungunya/dengue fever: This is a non-traditional security concern. Health pandemics and epidemics pose a threat to human well-being and societal stability, extending beyond military threats.
2. (b) Inflow of workers from a neighbouring nation: This is generally considered a non-traditional security concern, often related to economic, social, or demographic pressures rather than direct military threats. However, in certain contexts, large-scale migration can have security implications.
3. (c) Emergence of a group demanding nationhood for their region: This is a traditional security concern, as it directly challenges the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the existing state, potentially leading to internal conflict or secession.
4. (d) Emergence of a group demanding autonomy for their region: This is generally considered not a direct threat to traditional security in the same way as a demand for nationhood. While it can lead to internal political instability, it doesn't necessarily challenge the state's existence or sovereignty as fundamentally as secessionist movements.
5. (e) A newspaper that is critical of the armed-forces in the country: This is considered not a threat to traditional security. Freedom of the press and dissent are aspects of democratic societies and do not typically constitute a security threat in the military or existential sense.

Solution: The fundamental difference between traditional and non-traditional security lies in their scope and focus:

Traditional Security:

• Focuses primarily on military threats to the state and its governing institutions.
• Concerns include war, balance of power, and the formation of military alliances to deter or defend against aggression.
• The primary actor is the state, and the main concern is preserving its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
• Methods to achieve security often involve military strength, deterrence, and diplomacy related to military matters.

Non-Traditional Security:

• Encompasses a broader range of threats that go beyond military aggression and affect human survival and well-being.
• Includes issues like terrorism, environmental degradation, climate change, pandemics (diseases), economic instability, and human rights violations.
• The focus extends beyond the state to include individuals, communities, and the global environment.
• Requires cooperation and collective action, often involving non-state actors, to address complex, transnational challenges.

Category of Alliances:

The creation and sustenance of alliances clearly belong to the traditional security category. Alliances are coalitions of nations formed primarily for mutual defence against external military threats, directly aligning with the state-centric and military-focused nature of traditional security concerns.

Solution: People in the 'Third World' (developing nations) and the 'First World' (developed nations) often face distinct security challenges due to historical contexts, economic development, and political structures:

1. Military Conflicts and Border Disputes: Newly independent developing countries have frequently faced military conflicts, often with neighboring states, stemming from unresolved border issues or post-colonial political instability. Developed nations are less likely to face direct interstate warfare on their own territory.
2. Internal Threats: Developing nations often grapple with significant internal security threats. These include separatist movements seeking to form independent states, ethnic or religious conflicts, and political instability. These internal challenges can be as severe as external ones.
3. Merging of External and Internal Threats: In many developing countries, external actors or influences can exacerbate internal conflicts, or internal conflicts can spill across borders, creating a complex interplay of external and internal security threats.
4. State Building Challenges: Many developing nations are still in the process of consolidating their state institutions and national identity. This makes them more vulnerable to threats that challenge state authority and cohesion.
5. Economic Vulnerability: While both regions face economic challenges, developing nations are often more susceptible to the security implications of poverty, resource scarcity, and economic shocks, which can fuel conflict and instability.
6. Nature of Threats: While First World countries might face threats related to sophisticated cyber warfare, global terrorism networks, or complex international political maneuvering, Third World countries often contend with more immediate and existential threats to basic security, including widespread violence and state collapse.

In essence, developing nations often face a dual challenge of consolidating their states while defending against both internal and external threats, whereas developed nations may focus more on managing global security issues and advanced forms of conflict.

Solution: Terrorism is widely considered a non-traditional threat to security. Here's why:

1. Nature of Violence: Terrorism involves the use of political violence, often targeting civilians deliberately and indiscriminately, to create fear and achieve political objectives. This differs from traditional warfare, which is typically state-vs-state military conflict.
2. Actors Involved: While states can be involved in or support terrorism, terrorist acts are often carried out by non-state actors or transnational groups, blurring the lines of traditional state-centric security.
3. Objectives: The aims of terrorism can range from political change and secession to ideological disruption, which are not always aligned with the traditional security goals of state survival or territorial integrity.
4. Impact: Terrorism aims to wound peace and order by creating widespread fear and insecurity among the populace, impacting social fabric and economic stability, which are broader concerns than just military defence.
5. Global Attention: Events like the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre significantly heightened global awareness and policy focus on terrorism as a major security challenge that transcends national borders.

Therefore, due to its methods, actors, and broad impact on societal well-being, terrorism is classified as a non-traditional security threat.

Solution: According to the traditional security perspective, which primarily focuses on military threats and state survival, a state facing an imminent threat of war generally has a limited set of choices. These choices are often framed around deterrence and direct confrontation:

1. To Surrender: In a situation where a state is militarily outmatched and faces certain defeat, one option is to surrender to the aggressor. However, this is rarely an advertised or preferred policy, as it implies the loss of sovereignty.
2. To Prevent Attack by Raising Costs (Deterrence): A more proactive choice is to deter the potential aggressor from attacking in the first place. This is achieved by convincing the adversary that the costs of launching an attack—in terms of military losses, economic damage, or political repercussions—will be unacceptably high. This involves maintaining sufficient military strength and the credible threat of retaliation.
3. To Fight: While not explicitly listed as a separate choice in the provided text, the underlying assumption of traditional security is that states will defend themselves militarily if deterrence fails and surrender is not an option. This involves engaging in combat to repel the aggressor or achieve a favourable outcome.

These choices emphasize the state's autonomy and its reliance on its own military capabilities or the threat thereof to ensure security.