BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

THE RELEVANCE OF ‘NATIONAL SECURITY’ IN THE POST-COLD WAR WORLD

Author: Zohra Akhter

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2013v34n2a5

ABSTRACT

National security has remained a major theme of International Relations (IR) because of its academic as well as policy relevance. Grounded in realism, national security dominated the security discourse during the Cold War era. However, the demise of the Cold War and the emergence of new security threats, i.e. climate change, environmental degradations, poverty, endemic diseases, transnational crime and drug trafficking etc., pose significant challenges to the national security paradigm. Many among the new generation of security experts, moreover, negate the relevance of national security. In this context, the paper explores the relevance of national security in the post-Cold War era by applying four objective criteria, viz., levels of analysis, nature of threats, goal of security and means of security. The paper eventually concludes that given the new realities, the notion of national security has been gradually redefined though not drastically abandoned. This redefinition of national security could deal with new challenges while keeping many of its traditional aspects intact. These modifications in the concept have helped ‘national security’ remain as a relevant and predominant concept in IR.