The British National Security Strategy: Security after Representation

Rediscovering the past to build a secure future is better realized by understanding the role of history in policy making. Today, while Nepal’s national security policies remain silent about the geopolitical threats, it is timely to rediscover the guidelines on national security strategies introduced in Divya Upadesh, a Divine Counsel of the Great King Prithivi Narayan Shah. Currently, Nepal inability in escaping the geostrategic challenge of accommodating the interest of major powers is explicitly visible in the fiasco created by the Nepali political parties in the context of Nepal’s uncertainty over US-sponsored MCC project, which is today perceived in Nepal as hostile to China-led BRI. Historically, Nepal has successfully balanced its two Gulliverian neighbors. But, today, Nepal is not in a position to evade the repercussions triggered by Sino-Indian rivalry at the regional front and Sino-US strategic competition at the global level. On the backdrop of their conflicting interest—strategic, security, economic—Kathmandu faces the geostrategic challenges of accommodating the interest of major powers. Although Nepal’s integrated foreign policy of 2020 mentions of the changed geopolitical context, pragmatic policy recommendations, as indicated by foreign policy behavior, are missing. Constitutional guidelines on Nepal’s foreign policy and national security alone are not sufficient. Thus, drawing lessons from history could be of help to formulate the national security strategies in order to better cope with the external threats. The rationale behind considering Divya Upadesh is to make Nepali policy makers realize that the national security strategies and policies that Nepal adopted in a usual/normal context won’t be able to fulfill the requirements of the uncertain strategic milieu against the backdrop of a ‘new Cold War’ brewing between the United States and China. In the late 18th century when P.N Shah was introducing a comprehensive national security policy for the first time, the external environment wasn’t much favorable. After his death, however, instead of paying heed to his guidelines, expansionism ended up to territorial loss, adventurism led to Himalayan wars, appeasement led to increasing British influence in Nepal. After 1950, guidelines in Divya Upadesh have been more confined to history books and classrooms lectures. While Nepal lionizes its act of balancing India and China though the policy of non-alignment and equidistance, foreign and security policy makers never paid attention to reinvent the lesson for the same. Thus, this qualitative study recuperates the relevance of effective balancing as advocated by PN Shah in addressing the challenges surfaced while accommodating the interests of major powers. Most of the available literature on Divya Upadesh are either translated English versions, or limited to the analysis of the unification process. The relevance of an intersection of foreign policy and national security in Divya Upadesh is not unveiled by any of the available literature. Apprehending the same research gap, this study explores the contemporary significance of Divya Upadesh while devising the national security policies and strategies. Firstly, the contemporary challenges to Nepal’s national security prompted by Kathmandu’s struggle in accommodation of the interest of major powers is discussed; secondly, the policy of ‘balancing’ counseled by Prithivi Narayan Shah is emphasized as an apt and relevant in dealing with the contemporary challenges emanating from the neighborhood and beyond. Thirdly, “meticulous diplomacy,” is highlighted to offer economic shape to the act of balancing. Finally, it has been realized how studying history means studying causes, and as such, turning the pages of Divya Upadesh, policy makers discover the causes of Nepal’s failure in accommodating the interest of major powers.

<p>Koncepcja sustainable development została wprowadzona na forum międzynarodowe za sprawą raportu Brundtland w 1987 r. (Our Common Future). Jej pojawienie się z pewnością można uznać za przełom w dotychczasowym myśleniu o społeczeństwie i przyrodzie. Aby rozwój był samopodtrzymujący się lub trwały, musi łączyć ze sobą trzy elementy: utrzymywanie równości społecznej przy jednoczesnym wzroście gospodarczym oraz ochrona środowiska naturalnego z uwzględnieniem tak obecnych, jak i przyszłych pokoleń. Rozwój taki nie jest stanem statycznym, lecz procesem transformacji, który uwzględnia warunki społeczne, gospodarcze i środowiskowe. W dyskusjach nad kształtem koncepcji sustainable developement prowadzonych w ostatnich latach przeważa nastawienie europocentryczne, co jest wynikiem obecności tego rozwoju w strategiach gospodarczych państw uznawanych za rozwinięte pod względem cywilizacyjnym i o wysokiej ogólnospołecznej odpowiedzialności. Tymczasem początki dyskusji nad koncepcją rozwoju samopodtrzymującego się odnoszą się do problematyki państw słabo rozwiniętych. Wywodzą się one z lat 60. i mają niewiele wspólnego z zaawansowaniem społeczno-gospodarczym. Dzięki swoim środkom oraz doświadczeniu państwa rozwinięte mogą stać się „przekaźnikami” założeń koncepcji, zabezpieczając i stabilizując sytuację w państwach sąsiadujących z UE. Przykładem takiej polityki bezpieczeństwa UE jest współpraca z państwami rozwijającymi się w basenie Morza Śródziemnego (BMŚ), które są odbiorcami zarówno środków, jak i wiedzy z tą koncepcją związanych. Wzajemna współpraca w ustanawianiu ram do jej stosowania sprzyja bezpieczeństwu wspólnego regionu, jakim jest BMŚ. Celem tak określonego obszaru badań jest analiza koncepcji rozwoju samopodtrzymującego się w kontekście formułowania założeń współczesnej europejskiej polityki bezpieczeństwa i ochrony porządku publicznego, biorąc pod uwagę uwarunkowania tej polityki wynikające z bliskiego sąsiedztwa społeczeństw odmiennych kulturowo.</p>

The main features of the Western contemporary security discourse for the past two decades have been hybrid threats as threats to national security and an integrated approach as a way of ensuring the national security. Italy is the only G7 state that does not have a national security strategy. Nevertheless, its security policy is harmonized with NATO, the EU and the leading Western states. Italy recognized the danger of hybrid threats and since 2007 it has undertaken a series of reforms which led to vertical and horizontal integration in crucial executive departments in the field of national security. Through these reforms, Italian security architecture adapted to modern security challenges. On the basis of legal acts, it achieved the vertical integration of departments and bodies competent for external and internal security, intelligence and cyber security, while the horizontal integration was achieved through the existence of collective bodies at the strategic, coordinating and operational level. Thus, the object of this research was the Italian security system in the contemporary security environment with a special reference to the place and role of Italian security management. In that sense, this research aims to answer the following questions: Is Italian security policy aligned with NATO and the EU security policies in terms of hybrid threats and integrated approach? Does Italy meet the organizational and functional conditions for the integrated approach?

Human security suggests that security policy and security analysis, if they are to be effective and legitimate, must focus on the individual as the referent and primary beneficiary. In broad terms, human security is “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear:” positive and negative rights as they relate to threats to core individual needs. Human security is normative; it argues that there is an ethical responsibility to (re)orient security around the individual in line with internationally recognized standards of human rights and governance. Much human security scholarship is therefore explicitly or implicitly underpinned by a solidarist commitment to moral obligation, and some are cosmopolitan in ethical orientation. However, there is no uncontested definition of, or approach to, human security, though theorists generally start with human security challenges to orthodox neorealist conceptions of international security. Nontraditional and critical security studies (which are distinct from human security scholarship) also challenges the neorealist orthodoxy as a starting point, although generally from a more sophisticated theoretical standpoint than found in the human security literature. Critical security studies can be conceived broadly to embrace a number of different nontraditional approaches which challenge conventional (military, state-centric) approaches to security studies and security policy. Human security has generally not been treated seriously within these academic security studies debates, and it has not contributed much either.

Conclusions * Nuclear weapons will continue indefinitely to play an indispensable role in U.S. national security policy: as a hedge against uncertainties, to deter potential aggressors who are both more diverse and less predictable than in the past, and to allow the United States to construct a more stable security environment. Recent tests by India and Pakistan make it clear that weapons remain part of the security setting. The aggressive pursuit of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons by states such as Iran and North Korea underscores the role of deterrence as a central component of U.S. security strategy. * The United States requires a credible deterrent posture, broadly defined to include forces-in-being; capabilities for weapon system design and production; and the ability to assure the safety and reliable performance of the stockpile--a fundamental challenge in the absence of underground testing. Because this posture must be both adaptable and responsive to new threats, the national deterrent infrastructure must be treated as a strategic resource. The posture must also incorporate a greater role for defenses in future deterrence calculations. All of this requires trained and motivated people, as well as new ways of thinking and considerable agility and foresightedness on the part of U.S. leaders. * A force that is not backed by the perceived ability and willingness to maintain and, when necessary, reconstitute important elements will increasingly be seen as hollow. The decisions and actions that the United States takes concerning the total force posture in the years ahead will influence decisively how both allies and adversaries perceive the credibility of the U.S. deterrent. In turn, this holds important implications for the overall capacity of the United States to shape the security setting at the outset of the new millennium and to provide for the nation's defense in a world of change and turbulence. Setting a New Paradigm Recognizing the need for a fresh, long-term look at national security strategy and requirements, and specifically at U.S. policy in the 21st Century, the Center for Counterproliferation Research at the National Defense University and the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory brought together a group of experts with extensive experience in security policy and military affairs. The participants examined the broad trends in the international environment and considered how the United States could both shape and respond to them. A forward-looking paradigm for the dimension of U.S. security policy emerged that builds on the lessons of the past while addressing the opportunities and challenges of the future. The paradigm is based on five elements: 1. Sweeping positive changes have occurred. The bilateral nuclear balance that occupied center stage in the past no longer dominates the strategic calculations of the United States or Russia. Yet, there remains a continuing need for deterrence and for the retention of weapons as an essential component of U.S. national security strategy. 2. Nuclear weapons will remain part of the global security setting. The knowledge to build them will continue to exist; they cannot be disinvented. Even if the United States were to divest itself of its arsenal, other nations would be unlikely to follow suit. To the contrary, some states would gain incentives to retain or acquire weapons against a conventionally superior but nuclear-free United States. If weapons were somehow eliminated, a serious deterioration of the international environment could engender strong incentives for rearmament. A rapid and competitive race to rebuild arsenals could increase prospects for a devastating war. 3. In the changing security setting, the weapons infrastructure--broadly defined to include both the operational forces and the development and production capabilities that can bring new forces into being when needed--takes on a heightened strategic prominence. …

In this forum, three scholars of resilience, biopolitics and memory come together to discuss themes raised in Death and Security: Memory and Mortality at the Bombsite (Heath-Kelly 2016 Heath-Kelly, C. 2016. Death and Security: Memory and Mortality at the Bombsite. Manchester: Manchester University Press. The book is a comparative study of the reconstruction and memorialisation of four bombsites in Europe, the US and Indonesia (the Norwegian case study involves both a bombsite and a shooting massacre). While disaster recovery is treated as a common-sense process within contemporary security policy in the US and UK, the book complicates this assumption. It asks how security policies identify threat as emanating from past events and bombsites, such that recovery procedures and memorialisation are now written into the security responsibilities of governments and responders. The retrospective construction of threat does not follow the same logics of anticipatory risk assessment or contingency planning. As such the book enquires into the management of destructive spectacles and their effacement. It explores disaster recovery and memorialisation as practices which attempt to efface mortality and to undo the disruption posed to political sovereignty by visceral scenes of destruction. Mortality is figured as an aporia within biopolitical sovereignty, and memorialisation at post-terrorist sites is the ritualised attempt to reconstitute that sovereignty.

La elaboración de políticas de defensa es una tarea que todo Estado moderno debe afrontar a partir de las crecientes demandas de transparencia, y la tendencia general de tener respuestas en el ambiente de seguridad caracterizado por el gran grado de incertidumbre que hoy enfrentamos, donde ya no solo los actores estatales internacionales conviven, pues además hay que considerar a aquellos actores no estatales, difusos y que generan otros tipos de amenazas que el Estado debe precaver con todos los elementos del Poder Nacional. También hay casos como el de Chile en que, por diversas razones, es inviable el desarrollo de Políticas o Estrategias de Seguridad Nacional, que no cuajan en su ambiente político. Es por ello que para enfrentar esta miríada de situaciones, que no solo afectan a la Defensa se propone el desarrollo de una Política de Seguridad y Defensa, que permitiría poder prever y enfrentar este ambiente difuso y una Política Militar para el desarrollo de capacidades, preparación y organización de las fuerzas militares para cumplir las tareas que esta Política de Defensa y Seguridad le entrega.

The article analyzes the features of Japan’s security policy. It is noted that tradi- tionally, after World War II, the country relied on US defense resources, adhering to the Yoshida Doctrine. This made it possible to focus on socio-economic issues and reduce military spending. However, Japan’s security situation has changed since the end of the Cold War, when the country sought to increase its contribu- tion to regional and global security. At the beginning of the 21st century, growing military threats from China and North Korea forced Japan to step up its defense efforts. The government of Sh. Abe initiated a number of reforms: the National Security Council was established, the «National Security Strategy» was adopted, and defense capabilities were modernized. Japan has also focused on building new security partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region. Changes in security policy have covered a variety of issues, including the gradual militarization of the re- mote southwestern islands and cyber security. The final break with the pacifist traditions of foreign policy was performed due to the government of F. Kishida, and the key event that provoked these drastic changes was the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine in February 2022. Key changes proposed by Japan’s new national security strategy include: doubling the defense budget over the next five years; development of counterattack capabilities; expanding into new areas such as space; creation of the Permanent Joint Staff to coordinate the command of the armed forces; strategic emphasis on the southwestern islands, which are under the greatest threat in the context of the situation around Taiwan; increasing the country’s defense capability and readiness to conduct military operations. The «National Defense Strategy of Japan», adopted in 2022, takes into account the experience of the Russian-Ukrainian war and aims to respond to «new ways of waging war». In accordance with this, the government’s efforts to make gradual changes in the Self-Defense Forces are focused on seven main areas: strengthe- ning defense capabilities; complex air defense; development of unmanned tech- nologies; means of electronic security; possibilities of mobile deployment and protection of the civilian population; operational headquarters and intelligence centers; increasing the fighting capacity of the personnel of the Self-Defense Forces. Strategic communications with NATO and other defense alliances also play an important role in Japan’s security policy.

Rules are used as a way of managing and configuring firewalls to fulfill security requirements in most cases. Managers have to specify their organizational security policies using low level and order-dependent rules. Furthermore, dependency of firewalls to the network topology, frequent changes in network topology (specially in dynamic networks), and lack of a method for analysis and verification of specified security policy may reduce to inconsistencies and security holes. Existence of a higher level environment for security policy specification can rectify part of the problems. In this paper we present a language for high level and formal specification of security policy in firewalls. Using the language, a security manager can configure its firewall based on his required security policy independent of the network topology. The language is used as a framework for analysis and verification of security policies. We designed and implemented a tool based on theorem proving for detecting inconsistencies, coverage, as well as applying a query on the specified policy. Results of analysis can be used to detect security vulnerabilities.KeywordsFirewallFormal SpecificationSecurity Policy

EU Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) that encompasses 29 nations is gaining momentum. The aim of this study is to acknowledge ongoing developments in EU CSDP and define their impact for Lithuanian defence and security policy. Comparative scientific literature and document analysis method was used throughout this study. Article firstly reviews a path of EU CSDP developments, outlines roles and responsibilities of EU structures and examines current activities in CSDP framework with the focus to Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Second part is devoted to consider Lithuanian’s role in current EU CSDP context, to outline decisions that Lithuanian authorities made to implement new PESCO initiative. Study reveals that: CSDP remains adaptive framework for EU; established procedures ensure CSDP is in compromise with all of nations; PESCO initiative signals positive outcomes while reinforcing idea of “EU Strategic autonomy”. Furthermore it was indentified that: approved National Security Strategy backs current EU initiatives; PESCO could provide flexible response options without duplicating NATO’s efforts; national participation in PESCO initiatives will enable improvements in cyber security and will enable rapid access for possible EU and NATO troops deployments; participation in PESCO negotiation phase reached given political aims to seek more extensive projects and position nation within core members of EU. Lithuanian policies’ shift for deeper engagement in CSDP is likely shaped by recognition that strategic trans-Atlantic partnership is not certain anymore, as well as UK role at post-Brexit period as 3rd party. <b></b> <b></b>

This book discusses US foreign and security policy in contemporary Eastern Mediterranean, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and renewed great power competition. It examines US relations with Tukey, Greece, and Cyprus and a balancing strategy in the region towards Russia. The author assesses the impact on Eastern Mediterranean politics and US interests, drawing on neorealist theories and the dynamics of an international system in transition and explores the impact of the global redistribution of power in regions which do not traditionally constitute top strategic priorities. Contributing to discussions on great power balancing strategies and taking into consideration the transition to a post-unipolar international system, this book will appeal to scholars and students of international relations, security studies, US foreign and security policy, great power, and Mediterranean politics.

D. Trump's republican administration has substantially modified US strategic estimation of security challenges and threats, facing the country. The "National Security Strategy – 2017" became a fundamental basis of the security policy. The authors of the "Strategy…" believed Russia and China to be the main security policy problems, threatening the world status of the U.S.A. and a challenge for it's interests. The answer to the challenges should include deployment of the ABM system, capable of neutralizing threats, created by N.Korea and Iran. Opposing China and Russia, called "revisionist states", seeking to change the international status-quo, requires building up and modernizing arms and Armed Forces, in particular, security predominance in nuclear forces, space and cyber-space. An active role was designed for diplomacy and reconnaissance community, involving an increase of their efficiency. On the regional level, priorities included Indo-Pacific region, where the United States had to contain Chinese expansion, and Europe, where Washington intended to counter Russian subversive activity and aggression and to support NATO's defense efforts. Nuclear Posture Review (2018) was one of the key foreign policy strategic documents for the administration of 45th US President Donald Trump. In the context of increasing political and economic confrontation with the People's Republic of China and the aggravation of relations with Iran and North Korea, which were caused by the nuclear component itself, this strategy returned to the methods of confrontation and the nuclear deterrence of the Cold War era. It emphasized the complementarity of the power potential of the armed forces and the diplomatic levers of the international struggle. In the period of new aggravation in the international system caused by the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, these very components of the doctrine can become prognostically effective for the current and future American administrations. This article is designed to analyze the key aspects of the National Security Strategy-2017 and the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review that relate to foreign policy and highlight the special aspects and tools that are still relevant for application by the current administration of Joseph Biden in the crisis of the international system.

This chapter discusses the intended to look more closely at the two aspects of men’s interactions with children and to suggest if and how it is possible to develop new kinds of relationships. Child protection is an issue that developed societies currently focus much attention, concern and resources on. Child abuse was created as an issue of community concern in the 1970s and 1980s, largely emanating from the work of feminists challenging the subordinate place of women in society and in the family. Acknowledgment of the feminist construction of men as responsible for child abuse has had some consequences for the relationships of non-abusing men with children and society as a whole. A side effect has been to cast a shadow over the interaction of all men with all children. The data on male child abusers are recognised as incomplete and it may never be possible to get accurate information because of difficulties defining abuse and substantiating allegations.

Trust represents a fundamental pillar of contemporary security policy, influencing decision-making processes, institutional stability, and the effectiveness of security measures at both national and international levels. This article explores trust as a key precondition for the formulation and implementation of security policy, emphasizing its role in relations between states, within security institutions, and between public authorities and society. The analysis focuses on trust as a multidimensional concept encompassing political legitimacy, transparency, accountability, and the credibility of security actors. Particular attention is paid to the consequences of declining trust, including increased social polarization, weakened resilience of democratic systems, and reduced effectiveness of collective security arrangements. The article argues that building and maintaining trust is not merely a normative objective, but a strategic necessity for ensuring long-term security and stability in an increasingly complex and uncertain security environment.Through comparative analysis of selected European states (Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, France, and Estonia), the paper identifies critical determinants of trust, including transparency, institutional neutrality, crisis communication, and historical path-dependence. The findings demonstrate that trust acts as both an input to and an output of security policy, reinforcing legitimacy through reciprocity between citizens and the state.The article concludes that sustained trust-building must be recognized as a strategic dimension of security governance. Trust-based security strengthens societal resilience, mitigates polarization, and enhances adaptive capacity in hybrid threat environments.

The National Security Strategy (NSS) are specific documents prepared periodically by the United States’ executive, describing the main concerns of Americans’ national security and developing strategies to face the challenges. At the same time, by exposing the US government’s strategic vision, it contributes to informing the US government’s approach and intent on various topics related to security and foreign policy. This paper seeks to analyze the NSS of the last four American presidents, in a time frame that runs from the immediate post-Cold War to Trump’s administration, as well as its influences with regard to Latin America. Using a quantitative method, through the frequency content analysis, and a qualitative methodology, based on the empirical-deductive method, the central objective is to rationalize that, although there was a relative power vacuum at the beginning of the 21 st century, there is a return of the region as an important geopolitical and geoeconomic space in contemporary times.